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Oregon rejects gas utilities’ climate plans
Mar 15, 2024

OIL & GAS: Oregon regulators reject climate plans from all three of the state’s natural gas utilities, saying they are overly optimistic about the prospects for “renewable” gas and hydrogen. (Oregon Capital Chronicle)

ALSO: New Mexico regulators reject a utility’s plan for a liquified natural gas storage facility, saying the benefits don’t justify the cost. (Source NM)

CARBON CAPTURE: A California company has raised $80 million for a proposed direct-air carbon capture facility in Wyoming. (Canary Media)

WIND:

  • A proposed marine sanctuary backed by tribal nations could complicate interconnection for offshore wind in California. (E&E News)
  • Oregon representatives urge the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to extend the comment period for proposed offshore wind projects. (Oregon Capital Chronicle)

SOLAR: A cannabis company proposes a 102 MW solar project to help power its research facility in rural New Mexico. (Renewables Now)

ENERGY STORAGE:

  • The Navajo Nation reiterates its opposition to a proposed pumped-hydro storage project in Arizona, which will likely derail the project. (E&E News, subscription)
  • An Arizona utility announces its new 1 GW-hour battery storage system is now online, mainly to provide power for a new Google data center. (KTAR)

CLIMATE:

OVERSIGHT:

  • The chair of Washington’s Utilities and Transportation Commission continues to resist calls to step down amid controversy over his use of a racial slur and accusations of bullying and harassment. (Washington State Standard)
  • California’s Energy Commission approves a process to consider “non-energy benefits” such as health and economic impacts in energy planning. (Inside Climate News)

UTILITIES: Hawaii lawmakers debate a bill that would allow the state’s largest utility to securitize a bond to help pay for wildfire costs. (KITV)

EFFICIENCY: A landmark federal courthouse in Salt Lake City is undergoing extensive energy efficiency upgrades, with an aim of eventually reaching net-zero status. (Salt Lake Tribune)

TRANSPORTATION: Utah data shows both electric and hybrid vehicles are becoming more popular, but those sales are dwarfed by a surge in pickups and SUVs. (Salt Lake Tribune, subscription)

COMMENTARY:

New Hampshire town finds workaround to state net metering cap
Mar 11, 2024

SOLAR: To get around New Hampshire’s 5 MW solar net metering cap, the town of Bow plans to develop 6 MW of capacity across three municipal sites — double the capacity of the largest array in the state. (Concord Monitor)

ALSO:

  • A 2023 Maine law forces a solar developer to reduce the size of two solar farms slated to provide 2.7 MW each to conform to a new 1 MW or less cap. (Maine Monitor/Quoddy Tides)
  • Some residents of Raymond, Maine, threaten legal action against a proposed solar farm they say is too close to their residential neighborhood and may harm their local ecosystem. (News Center Maine)
  • A suburban Philadelphia township decides to write a letter of support for a state bill that would allow for community solar facilities. (Maine Line Times & Suburban)

OFFSHORE WIND: The head of the Connecticut Port Authority says New York’s selection of the Empire Wind and Sunrise Wind projects promises more turbine assembly activity at the New London state pier. (The Day)

GRID:

CONSUMERS: Maryland lawmakers advance new residential ratepayer protections for those purchasing power from retail suppliers, including a price cap over the standard service offer. (Associated Press)

HYDROPOWER: Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, considers whether to remove or restore a former hydroelectric dam that provides an attractive backdrop for daily life but is structurally unsound. (Bangor Daily News)

CLIMATE:

  • New York City plans to use federal grants to upgrade or build greenway paths as part of its climate resiliency strategy, forming new paths for low-to-no emissions transit and mitigating the heat island effect. (Inside Climate News)
  • Some coastal Maine towns debate whether managed retreat of certain buildings and homes is a better option than rebuilding on plots prone to flood damage after January’s storms. (Maine Monitor)
  • A new study finds thousands more homes than previously believed in Atlantic City, New Jersey, will be flood prone by midcentury due sea level rise and sinking land. (WHYY)
  • A state-federal program says climate change is bringing more nitrogen and phosphorus pollution into the Chesapeake Bay. (Bay Journal)

COMMENTARY: New Hampshire’s consumer advocate writes that Eversource Energy is undertaking a $400 million transmission line upgrade project in a way that indicates the utility is “hoping nobody, or almost nobody, will notice.” (In-Depth NH)

Pennsylvania “all in” on hydrogen hubs, governor declares
Mar 13, 2024

HYDROGEN: Pennsylvania’s governor says at a divisive public meeting that the state is “all in when it comes to the hydrogen hubs,” but environmentalists say the hard-to-reach location of the meeting shows a lack of interest in community engagement. (WHYY)

FOSSIL FUELS:

  • Pennsylvania’s governor promotes the plugging of the 200th abandoned oil well since he took office, but there’s a long road ahead to plug the estimated 350,000 undocumented ones remaining across the state. (Butler Eagle)
  • New York’s assembly advances a bill to ban drilling and fracking natural gas and oil with carbon dioxide, a process some fracking firms are had considered in the state. (Finger Lakes 1)

SOLAR: In New York, Niagara County’s environmental coordinator says the county’s solar panel recycling law is improving end-of-life panel management, but not all solar projects are complying. (Union-Sun & Journal)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

  • Some top Maine legislators want to strip power from a citizen board on vehicle emission standards and give it to themselves, but the NRDC says that would hurt clean car progress. (Portland Press Herald)
  • A lack of public charging options continues to hinder electric vehicle adoption in New Jersey. (Asbury Park Press)
  • An electric vehicle charging consultancy opens its new headquarters in Hanover, Maryland. (news release)

GRID: New Jersey lawmakers mull the potential impact of two bills, which would codify a gubernatorial order to have all electricity sales involve clean energy by 2035 and spend $300 million on grid upgrades. (RTO Insider, subscription)

POLICY:

  • Several Maryland bills supporting the governor’s climate action plan are stuck in legislative committees, including solar installation incentives and a new fee on coal and natural gas transported by rail through the state. (WBAL)
  • The Massachusetts Institute of Technology plans to launch a new climate change initiative aimed at connecting climate research to policymakers, but some students and observers worry the university will eventually turn to funding from fossil fuel firms. (Inside Climate News)
  • North Yarmouth, Maine, begins forming its own climate action plan, following the steps of several neighboring towns in recent years. (The Forecaster)

STORMS: Massachusetts plans to appeal federal emergency management officials’ decision to not issue a major disaster declaration over the severe flooding that swept through the state in September. (Associated Press)

CLIMATE: The president of the New York Farm Bureau says his farmers support climate action but worry the push for electrification comes before electric farm equipment can handle the long hours required. (Spectrum News 1)

TRANSIT: Two Somerville, Massachusetts, council members plan to introduce a resolution to remove “unnecessary” parking spaces from new developments to help meet climate goals. (Boston Herald)

South Fork offshore wind farm comes online
Mar 15, 2024

OFFSHORE WIND: Ørsted and Eversource begin sending power from their 132 MW South Fork wind project to the New York grid, the country’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm to open. (Associated Press, Bloomberg)

ALSO: Federal regulators approve an interconnection agreement for the 810 MW Empire Wind offshore project between New York’s grid operator and utility Con Edison. (news release)

CLEAN ENERGY: Maryland legislators advance legislation to stop local jurisdictions from banning or limiting certain renewable energy resources, including incineration facilities, but some municipalities say it supersedes their zoning authority. (Frederick News-Post)

FOSSIL FUELS: A development group finishes dismantling a former oil refinery in south Philadelphia, once the East Coast’s largest such facility, and begins construction on an industrial space and life sciences lab. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

CLIMATE:

  • A meeting of the Maine Climate Council discusses how the state is already seeing numerous side effects of the climate crisis, like experiencing its warmest four years since the last climate report was issued. (Bangor Daily News)
  • Although New York City saw triple the amount of last winter’s snow total, it was only about 25% of the area’s typical accumulation. (CBS New York)

SOLAR:

  • A clean energy nonprofit’s new report finds Pennsylvania schools have tripled their solar resources in the past decade to around 39 MW. (news release)
  • A Pennsylvania appeals court will hear a legal case over the denial of a conditional use permit for a proposed 858-acre solar farm in Pennsylvania’s North Annville Township. (LebTown)

UTILITIES:

CLEAN VEHICLES:

  • After being rejected in 2022, Princeton, New Jersey, school officials again apply for a state grant to help buy two battery-electric school buses. (Princeton Packet)
  • New Jersey lawmakers advance legislation that would implement a $250 fee on zero-emission vehicles and five years of incremental gas tax hikes. (NJ Advance Media)
  • Maine regulators begin using a 2021 law to fine those who sell diesel pick-up trucks modified to evade emissions control systems, with an Auburn dealership facing a possible $4,000 penalty. (Bangor Daily News)

As Mountain Valley Pipeline nears finish, residents complain about pollution
Mar 12, 2024

PIPELINES: Residents who live along the Mountain Valley Pipeline complain that Virginia regulators are ignoring erosion and pollution complaints as construction nears completion. (WVTF)

ALSO: The Mountain Valley Pipeline’s biggest stakeholder announces it will merge with its former owner, Pittsburgh gas company EQT, in a $5.5 billion stock deal. (Cardinal News; Bloomberg, subscription)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

  • A new report finds North Carolina leads the country with $8.9 billion in new electric vehicle manufacturing and battery supply chain investments since August, and trails only Georgia and Michigan with a total of $19.2 billion in EV and battery investments in recent years. (Raleigh News & Observer)
  • A Georgia lawmaker misrepresents why a planned 500-home subdivision near Hyundai’s planned electric vehicle factory was canceled. (Savannah Morning News)
  • Florida’s Miami-Dade school system receives $19 million from the U.S. EPA for 50 electric school buses. (WTVJ)

SOLAR:

OIL & GAS:

  • Texas oil companies are charging ahead with drilling test wells for carbon capture in a race to capture federal permits and incentives available through the Biden administration’s climate package. (Houston Chronicle)
  • Texas sues the U.S. EPA’s over its methane emissions rule that would mandate better leak monitoring and other emissions-reducing measures. (The Hill)
  • A Texas group leads oil producers challenging federal rules that would require them to report their greenhouse gas emissions. (Bloomberg, subscription)

COAL:

UTILITIES: The prosecution rests and defense begins its case in the trial of two former executives who are accused of scheming to collect bonuses by privatizing Jacksonville, Florida’s municipal utility. (WTLV)

CLIMATE:

  • A study finds the Gulf Coast is rapidly sinking, with Louisiana especially threatened by rising seas. (WSB-TV)
  • Texas officials say the largest wildfire in state history is now 89% contained, but caution that forecasted weather conditions could lead to more blazes. (Texas Tribune)
  • Virginia lawmakers pass a bill allowing localities to impose restrictions on developers to preserve the tree canopy and its climate benefits, but builders warn the measure could significantly drive up their costs. (Virginia Mercury)
  • A study ranks Richmond, Virginia, as the most climate-resilient city in the U.S., based largely on an extremely low score in a federal index which determines vulnerability to natural disasters. (WRIC)

Efficiency fixes can slash N.C. emissions, climate plan says
Mar 14, 2024

EMISSIONS: North Carolina’s new climate plan says that increasing support for low-income housing weatherization, upgrading energy efficiency in government buildings, and other measures to trim energy usage could get the state 60% of the way to its 2030 emissions reduction target. (Energy News Network)

ALSO:

OVERSIGHT: A South Carolina energy regulator resigns in protest of legislation to facilitate a natural gas-fired power plant that critics warn limits public engagement and offers a blank check to the power industry. (The State, Post and Courier)

BIOMASS: Wood pellet producer Enviva files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and plans to restructure after reaching agreements with creditors to significantly reduce its debt. (Wilmington StarNews, Associated Press)

CLEAN ENERGY:

SOLAR: Rural health centers in Tennessee consider applying for a federal grant to install solar microgrids to maintain critical services during power outages. (WPLN)

OIL & GAS:

GRID: An Arkansas electric cooperative receives nearly $50 million in federal funding to install hundreds of miles of power lines and fiber-optic lines. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

CLIMATE: A lawyer representing one of the landowners suing a Texas utility over a downed power line says damages from the enormous wildfires that resulted could exceed $1 billion. (KXAN)

Manufacturing, data centers drive gas plant boom
Mar 15, 2024

OIL & GAS: The data center building boom and resurgence in manufacturing have spiked power demand in the Southeast, prompting utilities to propose building dozens of new natural gas-fired power plants. (New York Times)

ALSO:

EFFICIENCY: A Virginia company offers a free online calculator to help homeowners navigate federal tax credits and point-of-sale rebates for efficient appliances. (Energy News Network)

EMISSIONS:

CLIMATE:

OVERSIGHT:

  • Kentucky lawmakers advance legislation to create a commission to view the state’s energy needs through an economic lens and add another layer of consideration to power plant retirements, but critics say it gives fossil fuel interests even more influence. (Courier Journal)
  • South Carolina lawmakers consider legislation to clear the way for Dominion Energy and state-owned utility Santee Cooper to partner on a 2,000 MW natural gas plant, though it also makes sweeping regulatory changes that led one state regulator to resign. (South Carolina Daily Gazette)
  • Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoes a bill to require that long-running vacancies on the state’s environmental justice council be filled. (Virginia Mercury)

BIOMASS:

COAL: The Southeast is home to five of the 14 coal plants that closed in the U.S. last year, but power generators are still largely looking to natural gas to replace that capacity. (Inside Climate News)

COMMENTARY:

Minn. gas utility’s climate plan is a start — but more needed, critics say
Mar 11, 2024

UTILITIES: Clean energy advocates applaud Minnesota’s largest gas utility for drafting a $105 million decarbonization plan, but say it doesn’t move fast enough to meet state emission-reduction targets. (Energy News Network)

POLITICS:

PIPELINES:

  • A federal judge says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should have required Dakota Access pipeline protesters to obtain a permit to camp on Corps land during protests in late 2016 and early 2017. (South Dakota Searchlight)
  • An investigation determines that a reported leak in rural South Dakota was unrelated to the Keystone pipeline. (Dakota Scout)

CARBON CAPTURE: The developer of a multi-state carbon pipeline says it remains open to contracts that offtake the carbon for enhanced oil recovery, despite sworn testimony that the project is for underground storage. (Reuters)

EMISSIONS: Indiana regulators say they are limited in setting more stringent air pollution requirements, though former state officials say options are available to reduce pollution in areas that fail to meet air quality standards. (IPR)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: U.S. automakers are rebalancing budgets and laying off workers as they contend with shifting electric vehicle demand and higher labor costs. (Detroit News, subscription)

RENEWABLES: A new online tool allows users to see how much wind and solar power was generated on a certain date. (Des Moines Register)

BIOFUELS: Executives planning a sustainable jet fuel production plant in South Dakota say their company is undervalued and will offer an effective way for airlines to hit their emission-reduction targets. (South Dakota Searchlight)

COMMENTARY:

  • Xenophobia is taking over a central Ohio town where opponents seek to halt a joint venture involving a Chinese company  from building a planned solar panel factory, an editorial board writes. (Columbus Dispatch)
  • An Iowa climate activist says climate change is costing state residents upwards of thousands of dollars per year through higher insurance premiums and soaring food prices. (Des Moines Register)

AES looks to be first Indiana utility off coal
Mar 14, 2024

UTILITIES: AES Indiana announces plans to convert its remaining coal units to run on natural gas and add up to 1,300 MW of renewables by 2027, becoming the state’s first investor-owned utility to stop burning coal. (Indiana Capital Chronicle)

ELECTRIFICATION: A GOP-backed bill in Minnesota to prevent municipalities from banning gas stoves gets a hearing in a Democratic-led committee, though its chances of advancing are unlikely. (Star Tribune)

POLITICS: A bipartisan bill would require more extensive federal national security reviews of certain real estate purchases by foreign countries of concern in response to a debate over a proposed Michigan battery manufacturing plant. (E&E News, subscription)

GRID:

  • A new scorecard says most regional grid operators have been too slow to adapt to market conditions with dysfunctional interconnection processes that slow clean energy projects. (States Newsroom)
  • A Minnesota bill aiming to streamline clean energy and transmission permitting was spurred by a work group that built consensus among local governments, clean energy businesses and advocates, utilities, farmers and landowners. (MPR News)

PIPELINES:

  • North Dakota regulators will meet on Monday to set a schedule for hearings on Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed carbon pipeline and storage project. (North Dakota Monitor)
  • A federal appeals court in Cincinnati will hear arguments next week over whether Michigan’s lawsuit to decommission Line 5 should be in state or federal court. (Journal Sentinel)

OIL & GAS: A new study finds U.S. oil and gas producers may be emitting three times more methane than EPA estimates. (E&E News, subscription)

SOLAR: A northern Michigan utility signs a 20-year, $14.3 million contract to purchase power from a 140 MW solar project near Ann Arbor. (Record-Eagle)

CLIMATE: Iowa and South Dakota are among just five states that declined to participate in a federal program that will provide $4.6 billion to cities, states, and tribes to implement local climate plans. (CBS News)

BIOENERGY: An Iowa city explores partnering with a California firm to generate electricity from methane captured at a local landfill and sell the power back to the grid. (KYOU)

COMMENTARY: An electric vehicle rideshare company representative calls for federal incentives that encourage EV charging stations in cities and that cover both upfront costs and maintenance. (Utility Dive)

Ohio set to consider massive, Bill Gates-backed solar project
Mar 15, 2024

SOLAR: Ohio regulators are scheduled to consider plans next week for a $1 billion, 800 MW solar project with 300 MW of storage on thousands of acres partially owned by Bill Gates. (Columbus Dispatch)

ALSO:

  • A conservative lawmaker from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula joins an Ann Arbor Democrat to sponsor community solar legislation they say would ultimately benefit ratepayers. (WMUK)
  • A U.S. solar manufacturing executive urges congressional lawmakers to make tax code changes that prevent Chinese solar companies from benefiting from Inflation Reduction Act incentives. (Utility Dive)

RENEWABLES: Nebraska clean energy supporters cry foul over a bill that would require wind and solar projects to receive approval from a siting board appointed by the governor. (Nebraska News Connection)

PIPELINES:

  • A four-week trial ends in North Dakota, in a case to determine whether the state or federal government should pay $38 million in policing costs for Dakota Access pipeline protests, though a judgment isn’t expected for weeks . (North Dakota Monitor)
  • Court documents in the Dakota Access case show that up to 10 FBI informants were embedded during the protests in late 2016 and early 2017, far more than the single one that had been confirmed until now. (Grist)
  • Great Lakes tribal leaders, along with federal judges, are waiting for the Biden administration to state its position on whether the Line 5 pipeline should be shut down on tribal land in northern Wisconsin. (Michigan Advance)

OIL & GAS: North Dakota’s oil and gas production has fully recovered from double-digit declines during a cold weather snap in January. (S&P Global)

BIOMASS: Environmental groups are concerned that the federal Inflation Reduction Act could create tax incentives for wood-to-energy biomass projects and potentially worsen climate emissions. (Inside Climate News)

CARBON CAPTURE: Western Michigan University lands a $2.25 million federal grant to advance research to capture and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. (WOOD-TV8)

OVERSIGHT: Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers appoints a regional grid expert and a former engineer to a vacancy on the state’s Public Service Commission. (Journal Sentinel)

EFFICIENCY: An Ohio college receives $250,000 in state energy efficiency funding to install new heating and cooling systems in residence halls and cut utility costs in half. (News Journal)

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