OIL & GAS: The coronavirus pandemic is shutting down Gulf Coast businesses and tourist attractions, reminding many residents of economic impacts from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill 10 years ago. (Associated Press)

ALSO:
• The Texas Railroad Commission becomes integral to international policy as it weighs whether the state should curb crude oil production. (Bloomberg)
• Gulf Coast state lawmakers ask the Interior Department to temporarily reduce the royalty rate oil and gas companies pay for offshore drilling operations. (New York Times)

UTILITIES: Utilities in Kentucky, Georgia and elsewhere plan to house key personnel at power plants to ensure facilities remain online during the coronavirus pandemic. (POWER)

COAL:
• West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice says coal mining is an “essential” service during the coronavirus pandemic. (Beckley Register-Herald)
• A Kentucky mining company announces it will shut down operations and furlough employees for two weeks due to the pandemic. (WYMT)
• Whitesburg, Kentuky, has been struggling because of the decline of coal — and now it’s facing further economic fallout from the coronavirus. (Ohio Valley Resource)
• A West Virginia conservation group will study the removal of a dam on the Cheat River that was built for a now-decommissioned coal-fired power plant. (Associated Press)

COAL ASH: Monroe County, Georgia, officials are considering suing Georgia Power over its delay of coal ash cleanup. (Monroe County Reporter)

SOLAR:
• Solar advocates are hopeful West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice will soon sign a bill into law that allows utilities to take on solar energy projects. (WV News)
• A Virginia county files a lawsuit over road traffic from construction of a solar project in a neighboring county. (Free Lance-Star)
• A 111-solar panel project on a public library in West Virginia comes online. (Herald-Mail Media)
• For the next month, the Tennessee Valley Authority is looking for proposals to add another 200 MW of solar by 2023. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

NUCLEAR: Southern Company’s CEO says construction on Plant Vogtle in Georgia is “going well” and hasn’t encountered major slowdowns from the coronavirus despite employees being tested. (Bloomberg Environment)

WIND: Dominion Energy’s two-turbine offshore wind pilot project could spur growth in the industry, according to a report from a wind energy group. (Recharge) 

Lyndsey Gilpin is a freelance journalist based in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. She compiles the Southeast Energy News daily email digest. Lyndsey is the publisher of Southerly, a weekly newsletter about ecology, justice, and culture in the American South. She is on the board of directors for the Society of Environmental Journalists.