RENEWABLES: Louisiana consumer advocates worry growing industry demand for renewables will absorb available clean energy from newly built projects, leaving residents stuck with fossil fuel power that’s vulnerable to global natural gas price volatility. (The Advocate)

ALSO: Staff for a Virginia regulatory board recommend against Dominion Energy energy storage and distributed generation solar proposals because of cost concerns, illustrating the challenges of meeting state decarbonization mandates. (Virginia Mercury)

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UTILITIES: Some North Carolina clean energy advocates balk at Duke Energy’s program for customers who want to purchase renewable energy, particularly its reliance on sources such as methane capture on hog farms and burning wood pellets. (WRAL)

SOLAR:
• Dominion Energy uses a herd of sheep to maintain vegetation around five of its Virginia solar farms. (WTVR)
• A solar developer returns to a Virginia county planning commission with a proposal to build a solar farm that ties into an electric cooperative’s grid, after previously floating a similar plan only to withdraw it. (Daily Progress)
• A Virginia school system celebrates the installation of a roof-mounted solar power system. (WJHL)
• A North Carolina college builds “solar shelters” that provide shade and a charging source for students’ laptops and devices. (WFAE)

GRID:
• A river authority finds Texas lawmakers’ plan to have it build up to 10 GW of on-demand, natural gas-fired power with fuel stored on site could cost about $18 billion — over $7 billion more than a previous estimate. (Texas Tribune)
•  The Texas Senate advances a bill to cut support from wind and solar power and force renewable electricity producers to help pay for new natural gas-fired power plants — although the legislation faces a tougher fight in the state House. (The Hill)
• Oklahoma utility officials say they’re confident the regional electric grid can handle electric vehicle charging needs, and will be even more capable by 2030. (KTUL)

EMISSIONS: An analysis finds leaks, flaring and venting by Louisiana’s oil and gas producers wasted more than 27 billion cubic feet of methane — enough to meet the natural gas needs of more than half the homes in the state. (NOLA.com)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A company secures a $15 million contract to sell 41 electric school buses to West Virginia. (Huntington Herald-Dispatch)
• An Arkansas airport commission approves a study of current and future electric vehicle charging needs. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

BIOMASS: Virginia lawmakers kill a proposal to allow an electric cooperative to sell renewable energy credits from its biomass plant. (Cardinal News)

EFFICIENCY: Duke Energy and a North Carolina city partner to offer an income-qualified pilot program providing energy efficient home renovations. (news release)

CLIMATE:
• A new study finds the acceleration of sea level rise in the Southeast is roughly 40% due to human-caused climate change and 60% due to natural cycles of ocean currents and winds. (News & Observer)
• The moisture-rich Gulf Stream supercharged a storm that dumped more than 25 inches of rain on Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in a matter of hours, scientists say. (Associated Press)

POLITICS: Florida lawmakers advance a proposal to forbid state and local agencies from considering climate change and social, political, or ideological interests when investing pension money. (Florida Phoenix)

COMMENTARY: West Virginia Treasurer Riley Moore’s fixation on boycotting investment firms that support environmental goals could cost the state upwards of $20 million, largely in service of Moore’s political ambitions, writes a columnist. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)

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Mason has worked as a journalist since 2001, covering Appalachian communities and the issues that affect them. He compiles the Southeast Energy News digest. Mason previously worked as a wildlife biologist before moving into journalism by freelancing at Coast Weekly in Monterey, California, before taking an internship in 2001 at High Country News. He wrote for the Enterprise Mountaineer in western North Carolina and the Roanoke Times in western Virginia before going freelance in 2012. His work has appeared in Southerly, Daily Yonder, Mother Jones, Huffington Post, WVPB’s Inside Appalachia and elsewhere. Mason was born and raised in Clifton Forge, Virginia, and now lives with his family and a small herd of goats in Floyd County, Virginia.