BIOMASS: With a public hearing on a proposed wood pellet plant in North Carolina canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, community members worry they are running out of time to get answers from state regulators. (Energy News Network)

COAL: Former and current coal miners in Appalachia who suffer from black lung disease take extra precautions to avoid getting coronavirus, which is especially dangerous for them. (Earther)

PIPELINES: A federal judge rejects a challenge by environmental groups and fishermen of permits for the Bayou Bridge Pipeline in Louisiana, saying the judgment had already been decided in previous rulings. (E&E News, subscription)

SOLAR: A Texas solar company is promoting installations and offering discounts for residents who want to go solar while they’re at home under lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic. (KSAT)

NUCLEAR: The Tennessee Valley Authority delays planned outages at a nuclear reactor this spring due to the coronavirus pandemic. (S&P Global)

UTILITIES:
• Texas energy providers are forced to change how they sell electricity during the pandemic since they have to avoid knocking on doors. (Houston Chronicle)
• An Austin utility tells customers the stay-at-home order could increase utility bills if they don’t conserve electricity. (Austin American-Statesman)

OIL & GAS:
• The Texas oil and gas industry is in a deep recession, according to an indicator from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. (Houston Chronicle)
• The oil industry could see over 1 million jobs cut this year because of coronavirus and an oil price war, according to an energy company’s report. (E&E News, subscription)

POLLUTION:
• Texans who live in areas with high rates of air pollution from oil and gas and other facilities are more likely to have preexisting health issues, meaning they’re at a higher risk of getting seriously ill from the coronavirus. (Texas Observer)
• A chemical plant north of Pensacola, Florida, emits vast quantities of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas nearly 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide. (InsideClimate News)

COMMENTARY: A power plant proposed in a majority-minority Virginia county already burdened with another plant ignores environmental justice concerns, environmental lawyers say. (Southern Environmental Law Center)

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.