UTILITIES: Louisiana residents worry about Entergy’s plan to sell its natural gas distribution system to a private equity group, which will lead to separate gas and electric bills and likely cause customers to pay more in a state that already has an above-average energy burden. (Louisiana Illuminator)

ALSO:

SOLAR: 

TRANSITION: There’s been little progress on plans to convert a troubled West Virginia coal-fired power plant to run on hydrogen, and its new owners have operated it barely half the time since acquiring it a year ago. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Federal officials designate Canoo’s electric vehicle manufacturing facilities in Oklahoma as a Foreign Trade Zone, which exempts them from import tariffs. (Oklahoman)

NUCLEAR: One of Georgia Power’s new units at its nuclear Plant Vogtle has been offline for a week after a valve problem led to a shutdown. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, subscription)

GRID: 

CLIMATE: Insurance costs spike an average of 33% from 2020 to 2023, and some insurers are withdrawing altogether from areas like Florida and the Gulf Coast as climate change increases the likelihood of disasters. (Grist)

POLITICS: 

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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.