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COAL: A former Pennsylvania coal community says the federal government has forgotten about them as they struggle to replace lost jobs and tax income, highlighting President Biden’s need to convince similar communities that they won’t be left behind in a clean energy transition. (Washington Post)
SOLAR:
GRID:
TRANSIT: New York’s governor dodges questions about replacement funding for New York City’s transit agency in light of her indefinite delay of Manhattan’s congestion tolls; a reporter is booted from her event after asking about her plan. (New York Focus)
POLICY: Easthampton, Massachusetts, releases a draft climate action plan that includes electrifying buildings and increasing low-emissions transit options. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
WORKFORCE: As Massachusetts looks to achieve climate goals that will require over 30,000 new workers, five high schools use state grants to create renewable energy career pathway programs in the renewable energy field. (WBUR)
GAS: A fuel provider opens a renewable natural gas station in Carney’s Point, New Jersey, to fuel up heavy-duty trucks and vehicles traveling between Philadelphia, Delaware and the New Jersey Turnpike. (news release)
COMMENTARY: Maryland’s public advocate writes that ratepayers in the state are left paying higher rates because of three Exelon utilities’ “aggressive and highly profitable capital spending.’ (Baltimore Sun)
Editor’s note: Maryland’s Montgomery County is using an automated permitting system to hasten rooftop solar installations. An item in yesterday’s digest misstated the location.
EMISSIONS: Amid ongoing consideration of Duke Energy’s plan to meet North Carolina’s carbon emission goals, the state consumer advocate criticizes the utility for failing to leverage a federal loan program to save ratepayers hundreds of millions and build more clean energy. (Energy News Network)
ALSO:
OVERSIGHT: The U.S. Supreme Court declines to take up a case challenging the statewide election of Georgia’s energy regulators, essentially clearing the way for elections to resume in 2025. (Associated Press)
GRID:
OIL & GAS:
SOLAR: A Virginia county planning board recommends against approving a solar farm on 2,000 acres. (WCYB)
COAL: Alabama residents complain that a mining company and public officials are ignoring their concerns about a growing underground coal mine with a lengthy list of safety violations that culminated in a fatal explosion in March. (Inside Climate News)
WIND:
ELECTRIFICATION: The mayor of Miami-Dade County, Florida, announces Miami will be the first major cruise port on the Eastern Seaboard to implement shore power, which allows cruise ships to cut their engines and plug into landside electrical power. (Miami’s Community News)
OVERSIGHT: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announces the expansion of a website to give the public more information about pending permits at six agencies, including the state’s energy and environmental regulation departments. (Virginia Mercury)
COMMENTARY:
CLEAN ENERGY: Renewable energy developers in Ohio are pessimistic about accessing Inflation Reduction Act tax credits as they attempt to overcome fossil fuel-backed groups’ misinformation and burdensome state regulations. (Floodlight)
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SOLAR:
WIND: Two central Wisconsin towns are being sued for overly strict wind energy rules that challengers say are more restrictive than state regulations. (WPR)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Michigan school districts report initial technological challenges with electric school buses, though supporters say a pilot program is gathering key usage data. (MLive)
CARBON CAPTURE: The developer of a large carbon capture project at a North Dakota coal plant delays a final decision on construction as costs increase and regulatory concerns grow. (E&E News, subscription)
PIPELINES:
OIL & GAS: Unregulated gas certification programs that aim to help the fossil fuel industry label natural gas as a clean fuel are a “greenwashing scam,” according to a new report from environmental groups. (Inside Climate News)
UTILITIES: A federal administrative law judge rules that a North Dakota electric cooperative should return $471 million to customers for costs that shouldn’t have been included in rates for a non-utility coal gasification plant. (KFGO)
BIOFUELS: Environmental groups want the federal government to require large biofuel plants to install air pollution monitoring devices and tighten the enforcement of air pollution permits. (MLive)
HYDROELECTRIC: A southern Minnesota hydroelectric dam is in “imminent failure condition” as high river levels caused water to breach the side of the facility and wash away a nearby substation. (MPR News)
OIL & GAS: A report by climate advocates dismisses third-party certification of “low-emission” gas facilities as greenwashing that does little to actually lower methane emissions, though certifiers dispute its findings. (Inside Climate News)
CLEAN ENERGY:
COAL: Residents of a former Pennsylvania coal community say the federal government has forgotten about them as they struggle to replace lost jobs and tax income, highlighting President Biden’s need to convince similar communities they won’t be left behind. (Washington Post)
POLITICS:
GRID:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A mapping tool finds electric vehicle charging deserts persist even in strong EV markets, including Los Angeles. (Axios)
EMISSIONS: North Carolina’s state consumer advocate criticizes Duke Energy for failing to leverage a federal loan program to save ratepayers hundreds of millions and build more clean energy. (Energy News Network)
GEOTHERMAL: Southern California Edison signs on to purchase 320 MW of power from an enhanced geothermal energy facility under development in Utah, boosting the nascent technology. (KTXL)
HYDROPOWER: Yakama Nation leaders criticize federal regulators for failing to consult with them on a proposed pumped hydropower storage project in Washington state after the tribe refused to reveal ceremonial and religious knowledge. (High Country News)
COMMENTARY: An editor celebrates Congress’ passage of a nuclear funding bill, saying it lays a roadmap for bipartisan climate action. (Washington Post)
GEOTHERMAL: Southern California Edison signs on to purchase 320 MW of power from an enhanced geothermal energy facility under development in Utah, boosting the nascent technology. (KTXL)
OIL & GAS:
CLIMATE: A Colorado judge clears the way for a local governments’ lawsuit looking to hold oil and gas companies accountable for climate change-related damages. (CPR)
HYDROPOWER: Yakama Nation leaders criticize federal regulators for failing to consult with them on a proposed pumped hydropower storage project in Washington state after the tribe refused to reveal ceremonial and religious knowledge. (High Country News)
SOLAR:
WIND: Wyoming regulators prepare to consider legal snags that have delayed development of a proposed 504 MW wind facility in the southern part of the state. (Cowboy State Daily)
STORAGE: An Arizona utility brings two battery energy storage systems online with a combined 340 MW capacity. (news release)
AVIATION: California regulators propose requiring jet fuel suppliers to offset their product’s greenhouse gas pollution by paying for emissions-reduction projects. (E&E News, subscription)
GRID:
NUCLEAR:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A mapping tool finds electric vehicle charging deserts persist even in strong EV markets, including Los Angeles. (Axios)
COAL: Advocates push back against the proposed sale of Canada coal mines blamed for contaminating Montana waters, saying it could affect remediation efforts. (Montana Free Press)
Duke Energy’s plan to zero out its carbon pollution all but ignores a federal loan program that could save ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars and enable more clean energy, the state’s ratepayer advocate said in recent filings.
And since the loans run out in September 2026, state Public Staff and clean energy advocates say time is running out for Duke to correct course.
“This is a singular bite at the apple that they’re going to get,” said Jeremy Fisher, principal adviser for climate and energy at the Sierra Club. “So, we’re not in a position to sit here and say, ‘hey Duke, in your next [long-term plan], you should model it.’ This is the moment.”
Public Staff called attention to the $250 billion federal Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment Program in its assessment of Duke’s proposed biennial carbon reduction plan, the first of which was approved by state regulators at the end of 2022, months after the surprise passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.
In accepting Duke’s plan that year, regulators noted: “it is appropriate for Duke to incorporate the impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act… and other future legislative changes… into its [Carbon Plan and long-range generation] proposal that it will file with the Commission on or before September 1, 2023.”
But Public Staff and other intervenors say the utility did not fully do so, at least when it comes to the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment Program.
“The Public Staff has concerns regarding Duke’s failure to model the [loan] program,” wrote Jeff Thomas, an engineer with the agency. The program, he added later, “represents a significant opportunity for cost savings for ratepayers tied to the deployment of new clean energy resources.”
The loans are perhaps less well known than the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax incentives for everything from electric vehicles to solar panels to offshore wind turbines.
But they’re just as important, if not more so, especially in light of the North Carolina law that requires Duke to reduce its carbon emissions in a “least cost” manner.
Fisher said utilities can take advantage of the program to varying degrees, with proportionate savings for ratepayers.
In the “ideal use of this program,” Fisher said, utilities can refinance outstanding loans for their retiring coal plants and combine them with new clean energy investments, all for a low interest rate. Then there’s a “lesser version,” in which a utility doesn’t transfer its balance on old coal plants but does finance new clean energy projects through the federal government. Finally, he said, there’s “one more step down.” That’s where a company like Duke essentially switches to the government debt it would otherwise owe a bank.
In a recent paper, the clean energy think tank Rocky Mountain Institute explained why this last option is least desirable for ratepayers.
“If utilities do nothing more than use [Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment] loans to displace corporate debt,” researchers wrote, “overall ratepayer savings will be minimal, since most utilities can already borrow at reasonably attractive interest rates without the added complication and expense of participating in a government program.”
Yet, Fisher said, testimony from the state-sanctioned customer advocate suggests this “stepped down” version of the loan program is what Duke envisions.
Michelle Boswell, director of Public Staff’s accounting division, relayed an example of a Missouri utility that could maximize the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment program and save its customers over $900 million. “While these ratepayer benefits come at the expense of lower earnings for the utility,” Boswell noted, “they are consistent with the least-cost mandate contained in [state law].”
At a technical hearing last week before regulators, Thomas reiterated that position. “As the ratepayer advocate, cost is a major concern,” he said. “We believe there are ways to control costs. One proposal is that Duke should take aggressive advantage of the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment loan program.”
Doing so could save ratepayers more than $400 million through 2032, Thomas said last week, and lead to increased renewable and storage deployment.
Testifying on behalf of Attorney General Josh Stein, expert witness Edward Burgess stressed the loan program could be utilized to cover transmission upgrades needed to connect more solar and storage to the grid.
“Reconductoring of transmission lines could allow for significantly greater renewable resource availability,” Burgess wrote. “This could be done much more cost-effectively with assistance from the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment program.”
Indeed, advocates say the federal program doesn’t just promise to lower ratepayer costs for the clean energy Duke currently proposes. By changing the economic calculus, the loans could spur the company to invest in more storage and solar and retire its coal plants sooner.
Duke’s proposed 1,360-megawatt gas plant outside Roxboro in Person County is a case in point.
In theory, rather than replace coal smokestacks on Hyco Lake with gas-fired units, Duke could build battery storage and clean energy on the site instead.
That investment would qualify the utility for an additional 10% federal tax incentive, since it would be located within 30 miles of a retiring coal plant. Much of the outstanding debt on the old fossil fuel plant and the solar and battery investments could be leveraged into a low-interest loan through the federal government.
Testifying for several clean energy advocacy groups, expert witness Maria Roumpani said that Duke may not be taking full advantage of this additional 10% incentive, since it assumes that 60% of its new standalone batteries will be sited at retired coal sites.
“Although the approach seems reasonable,” Roumpani wrote, “it might lead to the analysis overlooking certain opportunities to replace coal capacity.”
The Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment Program and the 10% bonus credit for former coal plant communities could also work in concert with so-called securitization of Duke’s coal-fired power plants, in which the remaining book value of plants is paid off through bonds backed by ratepayers.
The same state law requiring Duke to zero out its carbon pollution also calls for only half of the book value of its least efficient coal plants to be securitized. Theoretically, advocates say, the remainder could be paid off through the federal loan program.
Asked about Public Staff’s assertion that the utility didn’t account for the federal loan program in its latest proposal for phasing out carbon, spokesperson Bill Norton said Duke was still reviewing the filing.
He added, “we have already engaged with the Department of Energy and other utilities to learn more about the… program and see if it provides benefits to our customers. We will pursue all federal funding that we believe can reduce energy transition costs for our customers in a manner that protects reliability, supports our coal plant communities and accommodates North Carolina’s growing economy.”
Public Staff and others say time is of the essence. The loan program has a limited amount of funds, and records suggest other utilities have already applied for nearly half the total. That means Duke needs to begin applying for the loans as soon as possible, and, critics argue, should have already started.
“By failing to examine this option,” the attorney general said in its filing, “Duke may be missing out on a once-in-a-decade opportunity to save millions for its customers.”
WIND: The 924 MW Sunrise Wind project receives final approval from federal ocean energy officials to be built off the Long Island coast. (news release)
ALSO:
FOSSIL FUELS:
COURTS: Maine’s attorney general seeks to dismiss a lawsuit from youth and environmental advocates claiming officials have failed to follow the state’s 2019 carbon emissions reduction law. (Maine Morning Star)
SOLAR:
TRANSIT: A number of state lawmakers who oppose the now-indefinitely paused Manhattan traffic congestion tolling program weren’t able to provide an alternative plan for funding New York City’s transit agency. (New York Focus)
FINANCE: Federal energy officials issue $45 million in grants to Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania and Vermont, among other states, to form energy efficiency revolving loan funds to reduce the cost of clean energy projects. (news release)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: New Haven, Connecticut, will kick off a new short-term e-bike rental program later this summer, although details haven’t been finalized yet. (New Haven Independent)
WORKFORCE: A western Massachusetts community college receives an over $832,000 state grant to boost its programming for electric vehicle charging station installation, energy auditing, solar installation and other green jobs. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
UTILITIES: An open at-large seat on the Delaware Electric Cooperative’s board attracts five candidates; the election will be held in August. (news release)
WIND: Dominion Energy showcases its use of environmentally friendly bubble curtains and vibrations to set monopiles as it moves forward with construction of a $9.8 billion offshore wind farm near Virginia. (Virginia Mercury)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
SOLAR:
UTILITIES: Clean energy advocates tell North Carolina regulators they should push Duke Energy to build more renewables and dial back its plans for new gas plants to meet an anticipated spike in power demand. (WFAE)
OIL & GAS:
PIPELINES:
GRID:
COMMENTARY:
GRID: Grid operator MISO says it could face a capacity shortfall starting next summer in its northern and central regions without swift efforts to add new generation or delay retirements. (Utility Dive)
OHIO: Lt. Gov. Jon Husted allegedly helped lead the charge with now-indicted FirstEnergy executives to pass House Bill 6, which became the subject of a major bribery scheme, text messages show. (WEWS)
SOLAR:
COAL: DTE Energy completes the demolition of a southeastern Michigan coal plant where the utility plans to build a large battery storage facility. (Associated Press)
ELECTRIFICATION: Evanston, Illinois, is among U.S. communities banning gasoline-powered leaf blowers to cut down on noise and pollution, drawing pushback from the landscaping industry. (Associated Press)
CLIMATE: Researchers say climate-driven weather patterns are contributing to temporary price spikes for food and raise the risks of long-term inflation. (Washington Post)
OIL & GAS: North Dakota officials approve a $32 million loan for a processing facility that will convert natural gas into liquid hydrocarbon products. (North Dakota Monitor)
BATTERIES: A struggling Michigan battery startup enters into a strategic partnership with manufacturing giant Foxconn to help scale up production. (Crain’s Detroit, subscription)
BIOGAS: Two companies partner to develop a renewable natural gas facility at an eastern Illinois landfill that backers say will improve local air quality. (WCCU)
EMISSIONS: A large office furniture manufacturer based in western Michigan plans to cut carbon emissions 90% by 2050, which executives say gives it a competitive advantage and helps suppliers meet their own climate targets. (Crain’s Grand Rapids, subscription)
COMMENTARY:
COAL: Coal-fired power plants are becoming increasingly unreliable because of deferred maintenance, increased cycling and other factors, according to the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (Utility Dive)
CLIMATE:
OIL & GAS: In New Mexico, oil and gas giants partnered with environmentalists and politicians to develop an abandoned well cleanup bill, but turned against the final product and claimed it would “destroy” the state. (ProPublica)
ELECTRIFICATION:
SOLAR: A Wyoming economic development official proposes installing solar arrays on reclaimed Powder River Basin mines to replace lost coal tax revenue and jobs but runs into opposition from residents loyal to fossil fuels. (Inside Climate News)
GRID:
EFFICIENCY: Honeywell debuts a plug-level energy monitor that could help offices realize the energy savings of unplugging devices when they’re not being used. (Utility Dive)
WIND:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: An organization representing gas station chains calls on Florida officials to begin taking applications for funding to build electric vehicle charging stations. (Tampa Bay Times)
POLITICS: Observers expect West Virginia’s longstanding influence on federal energy policy to fade this fall as Sen. Joe Manchin steps down and is likely replaced by a pro-fossil fuel Republican. (Inside Climate News)
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