OIL & GAS: Louisiana is ground zero for a surge in oil and gas production that’s turned the U.S. into the world’s top producer, and a new wave of proposed export terminals fuels concern the Gulf Coast is becoming a “sacrifice zone for the oil and gas industry.” (The Guardian)

ALSO: 

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: 

WIND: Virginia regulators approve an 80% increase in a surcharge on Dominion Energy bills that will go to pay for the utility’s ongoing construction of a $9 billion offshore wind farm. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

STORAGE: A Texas county board responds with skepticism to an energy company’s request for a tax abatement on a 120 MW battery storage facility. (Renewable Energy World)

SOLAR: Florida Power & Light uses a herd of about 100 sheep to maintain vegetation at a Florida solar farm. (WEAR)

UTILITIES: Florida-based NextEra Energy signed deals to develop 3 GW of renewables in the second quarter, and its CEO feels confident the economic benefits will entice Republicans to preserve clean energy tax credits even if they win in November. (Utility Dive, T&D World)

GRID: 

COAL: A Virginia-based bank notes it missed out on more than $48 million in interest since 2023 in its long-running dispute over repayment of $300 million in overdue loans owed by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s family companies. (Cardinal News)

POLITICS: 

  • Four top contenders to become Democrats’ vice presidential nominee have mixed records on climate, like Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who has acknowledged climate change but wouldn’t blame it for devastating 2022 floods. (New York Times)
  • Virginia joins a 25-state effort calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to block the U.S. EPA’s implementation of a proposed rule restricting emissions from existing coal and new gas plants. (Virginia Mercury)

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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.