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Illinois rural electric co-op customers seek clarity, consistency from ‘Solar Bill of Rights’
Apr 24, 2024

Editor’s note: The following story has been updated to include responses from the Eastern Illini Electric Cooperative that were inadvertently overlooked prior to original publication.

An Illinois bill that started as a protection for solar-powered doorbells has developed into comprehensive proposed legislation to break down the barriers confronting rural electric cooperative members seeking to install solar.

Many residents and solar developers say the measure is sorely needed, since electric cooperative members often face arbitrary and changing interconnection, compensation and liability policies from the cooperatives.

Illinois HB5315, called a “Solar Bill of Rights” and introduced Feb. 29, would require the state’s more than 50 cooperatives and municipal utilities to allow net metering until a certain threshold of solar penetration is met, and develop “shared policy” on solar that must be approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission.

The bill would prohibit problematic requirements often reported by electric cooperative members, including complicated insurance requirements, lengthy interconnection processes and restrictions on system size, solar leases and power purchase agreements. People with solar would also continue under the same billing terms for 25 years after installing systems.

“Customers of municipal electric utility systems and rural electric cooperatives often do not have the same opportunities as customers of investor-owned utilities” to get solar, says the bill.

Scott Allen, renewable energy policy coordinator for the Citizens Utility Board, said the organization tends to get more calls about solar problems from electric cooperative members than customers of the two investor-owned-utilities that serve the majority of the state’s population.  

“Members aren’t satisfied with their rates of compensation, the cost of engineering studies, and the fact that policies can change with little or no notice,” Allen said. “Many people invest in solar, and sign net metering agreements with a pretty good idea of how long it will take to recover their costs, then the policy changes, and their financial outlook changes dramatically. Members don’t have a clear understanding of how, or to whom they address their concerns. Often, the rules about addressing the [electric cooperative] board are unclear, and in some cases, it can take months to get a few minutes on the agenda.”

Mike Wilson, vice president of member and community relations for Eastern Illini Electric Cooperative, said the utility has heard concerns about difficulties installing solar at its board meetings, and in one recent such case, “the board listened intently to the concerns expressed and engaged in discussion with the member to address them.”

The 2021 Climate & Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) required electric cooperatives to interconnect rooftop solar installations, but the cooperatives still institute size limits, requirements for expensive liability insurance and other barriers, critics say.

Electric cooperatives and municipal utilities are not regulated by the Illinois Commerce Commission in the same way it oversees investor-owned utilities ComEd and Ameren. The cooperatives were started as ways for rural residents to run their own electric systems democratically. But critics say the boards that administer the cooperatives often lack meaningful public input procedures, and have not made adequate efforts to embrace the clean energy economy. Proponents of cooperatives and municipal utilities meanwhile note that they offer citizens more direct control, at least theoretically, than investor-owned utilities, without a profit motive.

“Ultimately, we have concerns about any legislation that removes local governance from cooperatives, since that is one of our core principles,” Wilson said.

Allen emphasized the bill “is not about removing local control from any units of local government, it’s about making sure consumers are protected.”

“We’re trying to adopt a universal or semi universal standard for everybody across the state, where we have 30-plus municipal utilities, 25-26 distribution cooperatives, and they each have different policies, different ways they compensate their customers, and these policies can change whenever the board or city council wants to make that change,” he said. “It’s caused a lot of problems for individuals who got their system sized and financed based on one set of information, and the next year that information changes.”

The Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives did not respond to requests for comment. Especially given potential pushback from electric cooperative interests, the bill may be unlikely to pass during the legislative session that ends May 24, in which case it would likely be reintroduced next year.

A ‘muddy’ situation

After Meredith Barnes and her husband purchased a home and started a lavender farm in central Illinois, they hoped to install solar. The Eastern Illini Electric Cooperative closed its net metering program in July 2020 after solar reached 5% of its load, with 430 households out of about 13,500 having solar.

“EIEC has developed local policies that seek to balance our ability to provide safe electric service that equitably recovers fixed costs, while also maintaining grid reliability and ensuring fairness to all members when providing credit for excess renewable generation,” Wilson said.

Barnes and her husband — who installed their array last year — receive only a low flat rate known as “excess electricity value” for power they send back to the grid.

Barnes noted that the flat rate is set annually, so households with solar don’t benefit if electricity prices rise, theoretically making solar more valuable. And the rate is much lower than the retail rate that cooperative members with net metering would get.

The bill would allow cooperatives to cap net metering at a set threshold, but the Illinois Commerce Commission would approve a “fair value of solar” that cooperatives and municipal utilities would be expected to offer through other billing structures.

“The equitable value of solar is definitely not what they’re paying us,” Barnes said. “They say [the flat rate] will go up, but when?  There should be a minimum standard [paid for solar] across the state.”

Barnes said she’s had difficulty communicating with cooperative board members and understanding how the flat rate is set. Such lack of transparency is a common complaint among electric cooperatives, consumer and solar advocates say.

“The flat rate is very muddy. It’s just weird,” Barnes said. “The cooperative doesn’t like when you try to talk to them about it.”

Barnes tries to use as much of the electricity from her array as possible. “Since I have a farm and work from home, I can do laundry during the day, I can run the dishwasher during the day,” she said. “For someone who works at an office from 8 to 5, that’s not possible.”

Buying a battery to store their own energy was too expensive, she added.

“What we did is bought an electric vehicle and we only charge it when it’s sunny. It’s like our battery, I’m not sending as much back to the grid because I’m going to store it in my vehicle.”

The Solar Bill of Rights legislation does not address net metering or other policies for the state’s two investor-owned utilities, ComEd and Ameren, whose rates are determined in proceedings before the Illinois Commerce Commission. These utilities will end net metering in 2025, replacing it with a rebate for solar systems.

“We don’t want to compare investor-owned utilities to cooperatives,” said Allen. “There is an argument to be made that Ameren and ComEd have quite a bit more solar installed in their territories, they’ve kind of reached a decent threshold, whereas municipal utilities and cooperatives are lagging behind.”

Humble beginnings

When state Rep. Daniel Didech (D-59) and supporters began drafting the bill, it was meant to make sure that municipalities and counties couldn’t ban small solar collectors on the fronts of homes meant to power smart doorbells or other appliances. That language, still in the bill, expanded to ensure that these government bodies can’t ban solar arrays more generally. (The bill does not apply to shared roofs or buildings over 60 feet tall.)

A state law already bans homeowners associations from restricting solar for aesthetic or other reasons. But some Illinoisans still face restrictions from local government agencies. That was the case in the Chicago suburb of Sugar Grove until a village board meeting on April 16. There, board members overturned a ban on solar on front-facing rooftops, thanks to an energetic campaign by homeowners Becky Brocker and Mike Rayburn.

Advocates and solar developers say municipal restrictions like Sugar Grove had are actually rare. The only other well-known case is Kildeer, Illinois, which removed a total ban on solar in February and still prohibits front-facing arrays. But, advocates said, it’s still important to codify the right to solar statewide, especially as official opposition may arise more frequently as more and more people install solar.

“When [Didech] expanded the bill, he was thinking ahead that these sorts of covenants exist in places we don’t know about yet, just trying to get out ahead of any units of local government that might catch on to, ‘Hey, we can restrict solar for whatever reason we want to,’” said Allen.

John Delurey, deputy program director of the organization Vote Solar, noted that more than 75,000 small solar arrays have been installed statewide since the 2017 Future Energy Jobs Act created incentives. But preventing any future barriers to solar, and smoothing the way in electric cooperative territory, is crucial to make sure that growth continues, he said.

“In rural areas, counties may be the bodies with jurisdiction. I’m sure there are still people in Illinois having trouble because one person on a zoning committee doesn’t like solar,” said Delurey. “It drains everybody’s resources to roam around and play whack-a-mole with all these different rules.”

Unions are coming for EV factories
Apr 24, 2024

Electric vehicle factories are booming in the Southeast. Soon, unions could be too.

Chattanooga, Tennessee’s Volkswagen plant made history last week when 73% of its workers voted to join the United Auto Workers. It’s a big victory for the UAW in the historically hard-to-organize Southeast, and a win for two top Biden administration priorities: increasing union labor and domestic EV manufacturing.

“The union has broken the glass ceiling that unions could not organize in the South,” Harley Shaiken, a professor emeritus who studies labor issues at the University of California, Berkeley, told E&E News. “This could become a forerunner for the role that the UAW and unions will play in the transition to EVs.”

The UAW last year secured higher wages and other worker benefits from the Big Three automakers, and after that set its sights on EV makers that have started popping up in the South. Next up, the UAW will push for a union at an Alabama Mercedes-Benz factory that recently started making EVs, as well as a nearby EV battery plant. The UAW says so far, a “supermajority” of workers at those plants back a union.

John Logan, labor professor at San Francisco State University, told Reuters that Mercedes is fighting the union effort far more aggressively than VW did. But if the UAW succeeds at unionizing Mercedes, “I wouldn’t be surprised to see elections at Hyundai, Honda and Toyota over the next several months,” he said.

Tesla, BMW, and Nissan plants are also targeted as part of the union’s $40 million organizing campaign. And while E&E News notes the UAW doesn’t have plans to unionize any standalone battery plants yet, they could be next.

Kathryn Krawczyk

More clean energy news

☀️ Solar for all: The U.S. EPA announces $7 billion in grants for the first 60 projects in its Solar for All program, which aim to expand solar power access in low- and middle-income communities. (Associated Press)

🚘 Chargers take charge: The U.S. now has a fast charging station for every 15 gas stations after adding 600 new stations so far this year, as Tesla continues to build out its network and federal funding helps patch charging deserts. (Bloomberg)

🏭 Power plant rule change: Hydrogen industry leaders and environmentalists expect the U.S. EPA to exclude hydrogen from its final power plant emissions rule, leaving carbon capture as the only option for gas plants looking to reduce emissions to meet the regulation. (E&E News)

🕳️ Shortchanged on fossil fuel cleanup: The federal Bureau of Land Management’s newly calculated oil and gas reclamation bonds are based on faulty calculations, and won’t charge fossil fuel companies enough to cover eventual well cleanup costs. (Capital & Main/ProPublica)

⚡️ Rethinking the grid: Virtual power plants, dynamic line ratings, and other advanced grid technologies could open up space on the grid for more electricity while staving off the need for costly, time-consuming transmission construction, a new U.S. Energy Department roadmap finds. (Canary Media)

🌎 Climate action is cheaper: Unmitigated climate change and continued burning of fossil fuels would cost the world an estimated $38 trillion in damages by 2050, six times the cost of transitioning to clean energy and curbing warming, according to a peer-reviewed study. (Axios)

👷 Climate workers wanted: The White House launches a website that lists openings and accepts applications for the Climate Corps jobs and training program. (NPR)

🌊 Big turbines, big problems: GE Vernova’s cancellation of its plans to build one of the biggest wind turbines ever designed is one reason New York rejected several previously authorized offshore wind projects. (E&E News, Politico)

💧 Waste not: Improving wastewater treatment processes could save the U.S. $15.6 billion, reduce energy costs and slash the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions, a peer-reviewed study finds. (The Hill)

Maine agencies sued over alleged lack of climate action
Apr 23, 2024

POLICY: Several environmental organizations sue two Maine state agencies for failing to protect residents from climate change, citing a lack of compliance with greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets and the recent failure of new clean car rules. (Portland Press Herald, Bangor Daily News)

ALSO: Connecticut’s legislature is considering four major climate bills right now, but observers say not all will make it to a vote. (CT Mirror)

SOLAR:

HYDROPOWER: A developer argues in court that Maine didn’t explain well enough why it rejected a permit needed for federal regulators to relicense a Kennebec River hydroelectric dam. (E&E News, subscription)

OFFSHORE WIND:

  • With New York choosing not to go forward with several offshore wind project bids, the hope for hundreds of new jobs at the Port of Coeymans in Albany has faded. (Times Union)
  • New York cited GE Vernova’s cancellation of its plans to build one of the biggest wind turbines ever designed as a reason behind its denial of the two offshore wind projects. (E&E News)
  • Eversource finalizes the deal to sell its 50% ownership in the 924 MW Sunrise Wind project to Ørsted, though it will still lead the project’s onshore construction. (news release)

GRID: While construction continues on the $6 billion Champlain Hudson Power Express transmission line, slated to bring 1.25 GW of hydropower from Canada to New York City, some groups still hold concern for the impact on Native lands. (Business Insider)

FOSSIL FUELS:

  • A municipal utility in Norwich, Connecticut, will receive a $10.9 million federal grant this year to help replace cast iron gas pipes, helping the agency slash the amount of time needed to complete the project. (The Day)
  • Paddlers on the Hudson River say they reported evidence of a small spill a week before at least 50 gallons of oil leaked from a Con Edison facility in New York City. (W42ST)

TRANSIT:

  • Connecticut transportation officials kick off a new campaign encouraging residents to drive less during the month of May to reduce emissions. (Hartford Courant)
  • As Maryland’s transit agency considers dropping bus routes connecting the Washington, D.C. suburbs with the city’s downtown, some commuters say doing so is akin to “ripping that rug out from under us.” (Baltimore Sun)

BUILDINGS: Efficiency Vermont creates a new calculator to show state residents all the incentives, rebates, programs and offers available for them to make green home upgrades. (WCAX)

EVs on track for a record year
Apr 23, 2024

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Global electric vehicle sales will hit a new record this year, and prices will be comparable to gasoline-powered cars by 2030, the International Energy Agency predicts. (Guardian)

ALSO: The United Auto Workers’ win at a Tennessee Volkswagen factory sets up another push next month at an Alabama Mercedes-Benz factory — and from there to auto factories in Georgia and South Carolina. (Politico; AL.com; Atlanta Journal-Constitution, subscription)

CLIMATE:

SOLAR:

NUCLEAR: A new report questions whether increasingly extreme weather could threaten the safety or viability of aging nuclear power plants. (Yale Environment 360)

PIPELINES:

  • Mountain Valley Pipeline officials say the long-delayed, over-budget project has completed all water crossings, and ask federal regulators to issue an order by next month to allow it to be placed in service. (Roanoke Times)
  • As utility and local officials celebrate a DTE Energy gas pipeline extension, climate advocates say Michigan should focus on electric heating instead of expanding fossil fuel infrastructure. (IPR/Grist)

GRID:

INDUSTRY: A Minnesota startup company wants to help customers convert diesel engines to burn ammonia, a potential climate solution whose benefits hinge on how the chemical is produced. (Energy News Network)

California launches climate-oriented land management plan
Apr 23, 2024

CLIMATE: California Gov. Gavin Newsom unveils a climate plan that would see the state leverage more than 50 million acres of its land to optimize carbon absorption and reduce wildfire risk. (Los Angeles Times)

ALSO: A Wyoming city and tribal nation seek federal greenhouse gas emissions-reduction funds for solar projects, microgrids and electric vehicles after the state refused to apply for the grants. (Inside Climate News)

UTILITIES: California lawmakers kill legislation that would have tightened regulations prohibiting utilities from spending ratepayer funds on advertising or lobbying. (Associated Press)

SOLAR:

WIND: The federal Bureau of Land Management extends the public scoping period for the proposed 600 MW Jackalope wind facility in Wyoming. (Cheyenne Post)

EFFICIENCY: Honolulu officials plan to extend efficiency measures to 80 additional facilities after they saved the city $2.7 million in utility costs last year. (KHON)

CLEAN ENERGY: Utah cities scramble to find clean energy sources after Rocky Mountain Power decided to postpone its planned coal-generation phaseout. (Salt Lake Tribune)

TRANSPORTATION:

WIND: The federal Bureau of Land Management extends the public scoping period for the proposed 600 MW Jackalope wind facility in Wyoming. (Cheyenne Post)

BATTERIES: Colorado’s economic development commission approves $1.1 million in incentives for a proposed sodium-ion battery manufacturing facility in the northeastern part of the state. (Greeley Tribune)

LITHIUM: California advocates file a lawsuit challenging a proposed direct lithium extraction operation at the Salton Sea, saying the county’s review downplays the project’s water use and other environmental impacts. (inewsource)

COAL: Federal regulators indicate they will nullify a new Montana law loosening water quality standards for coal mines because it is weaker than federal rules. (Montana Free Press)

OIL & GAS: The federal Bureau of Land Management seeks public input on a proposal to revoke oil and gas leases on 6,000 acres in the Permian Basin that are the target of an environmentalists’ lawsuit. (KRQE)

To lower emissions, a Minnesota startup wants to convert diesel engines to burn ammonia

A Minnesota company is among a growing number of startups nationwide hoping to help customers replace diesel and natural gas with ammonia in industrial applications.

“It’s not as big of a leap as you might think to retool and change an engine from running diesel to ammonia,” said Aza Power co-founder and CEO Seamus Kane. The company is developing conversion kits that allow diesel engine owners to switch their energy source to ammonia and reduce their carbon emissions.  

Ammonia is a pairing of hydrogen and nitrogen, which means it doesn’t emit carbon when burned. Its production is typically very carbon intensive, however, accounting for about 2% of the world’s total carbon emissions, according to the International Energy Agency.

More than 70% of ammonia produced today ends up as liquified gas in nitrogen fertilizer that farmers inject into soil. Other major uses for ammonia include as a refrigerant and cleaning solution. The chemical has a long history as an experimental transportation fuel, having been a base for a NASA and Air Force jet, the X-15, that set a speed record in the 1960s that has not been matched.

Today, startups are also testing ammonia as a combustion fuel and as a medium for transporting hydrogen, another potential clean energy source in which the federal government is investing billions of dollars.

In the last few years, several countries have begun producing “green” ammonia using renewable electricity. China, India and Australia are building green ammonia plants to mainly serve hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

‘Just a liquid in a tank’

Aza Power is a spinoff of research at the University of Minnesota Morris, where a facility uses wind power to produce green ammonia and hydrogen. Will Northrop, director of the University of Minnesota’s Thomas E. Murphy Engine Laboratory in Minneapolis,  has been studying and testing the idea of replacing diesel with ammonia in tractors and other engines since 2016. A few years ago he received $12.5 million from the Legislature to study ammonia as an energy carrier.

The company sells conversion hardware allowing clients to switch from fossil fuels to ammonia and offers a maintenance agreement to provide any required service after installation. Kane, the co-founder, said that any machine with a piston engine is a prospect for conversion.

An ammonia-powered engine in a laboratory at the University of Minnesota.

The company’s core technology replaces diesel fuel injector components in common diesel engines used in trucks, earthmovers, tractors, generators and other products.

“We would be able to package the technology so that it can go for a bunch of different engines,” he said.

The company recently received support and funding from the clean energy incubator Grid Catalyst and from Minnesota Energy Alley, a new program managed by Clean Energy Economy Minnesota.

Ammonia has potential advantages as a clean fuel. One is that it’s already one of the most commonly produced chemicals in the world. A global distribution network exists for producing, storing and transporting about 175 million tons annually.

In addition to use as a combustion fuel in certain engines, ammonia could serve as a safe and efficient way to transport hydrogen. Its production can be reversed, splitting off the hydrogen in a process known as “cracking.” Ammonia’s ability to store energy is eight to 12 times higher than the best performing lithium-ion batteries based on measures such as kilowatt hours per kilogram, Kane said.

“Ammonia is just a liquid in a tank,” he said, requiring no wires or cases that batteries require.

Market potential

Tim Krebs, Aza Power’s chief financial officer, serves on the boards of other ammonia startups and comes from an oil and gas background. After lithium-ion and hydrogen, ammonia will become “the next complement for decarbonizing the world and as a way to move hydrogen around the planet,” Krebs said.

He lists off the potential market: Offroad tractors, mining equipment, bulldozers, locomotives, mining equipment, tractors, backhoes and maritime fleets, especially ferries and tugboats. These kinds of engines can be converted to burn ammonia without great expense, he said.

A variety of market reports are available on the growth of green ammonia and green transportation. ChemAnalyst, which studies industries involved in chemical commodities, suggests in a report that ammonia fuel demand will grow more than 14% annually for use in transportation, power generation and industrial feedstock.

Mike Reese, renewable energy director at the outreach center, believes ammonia could be one of the solutions for fueling machinery and storing energy. Ammonia “is well understood and financeable” compared to other competing technologies such as fuel cells, he said.

Reese said the cost of ammonia needs to decline to be competitive, but it may still cost less than lithium-ion battery technologies.

“Batteries have proven to be very expensive at scale and less is known about the performance,” he said. “I think it’s reasonable to move towards power generation using ammonia in internal combustion engines.”

The size of the entire market remains hard to gauge but Kane provides a glimpse of the generator marketplace. In working with Grid Catalyst, Aza Power has been developing technology to replace diesel in electric generators. That market alone is a “$35 billion to $40 billion globally,” Kane said.

Pollution risks

Kane said Aza Power and other startups still need green ammonia from renewable energy to grow significantly from its tiny market share. Even green ammonia, though, creates some emissions. When burned to produce energy, green ammonia can emit nitrogen oxides (NOX) and nitrous oxides (N2O), which have a “global warming potential” 300 times greater than carbon emissions. Improved combustion technologies could help reduce emissions dramatically, he said.

Kane said Aza Power meets NOX emissions set by the EPA for by using mature catalytic formulations. The N20 emissions occur in any fuel combustion but Aza Power’s conversion technology reduced greenhouse gas emissions, including N20, by 80% to 90% over diesel engines, he said. He’s “confident” the number will rise to 98% next year.

Trevor Brown, executive director of the 262-member Ammonia Energy Association, said Aza Power is exploring a potentially lucrative market of industries that will need to decarbonize vehicles and engines. Achieving net-zero emissions will require a portfolio of technologies and ammonia’s global reach and transportability make it a potential solution, he argued. The industry needs policy support to compete with fossil fuels, though.

“There’s no cheaper solution than fossil fuels,” Brown conceded.

Aza Power’s main U.S. competitor is Amogy, a startup with nearly $200 million in venture capital primarily from Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund. Amogy combines ammonia with fuel cell technology for decarbonizing the transportation sector and has developed an ammonia-powered tractor.

After the Grid Catalyst engagement ends, Aza Power wants to raise seed capital for an 18 month development time to scale their generation technology to bigger engines. It is eyeing other markets, namely locomotives running on diesel, and has a partner with expertise in converting trains to run on alternative fuels.

Kane also sees the mining industry, an important player in Minnesota, as another market.

“Those applications in mining that use big engines where we’re looking at scaling up our conversion technologies,” he said.

Interconnection delays plague renewable rollouts
Apr 22, 2024

RENEWABLES: In northern Illinois and across the nation, waitlists to connect large renewable energy projects to the electric grid have ballooned, leaving over 1,400 gigawatts of wind and solar projects in limbo. (Chicago Tribune)

ALSO:

  • The CEO of Kansas City-based utility Evergy says renewables are a cost-effective option to meet rising demand for electricity. (Kansas City Business Journal)
  • An Iowa county will consider amendments next month to its utility-scale wind ordinance, including new requirements related to setbacks, noise, wildlife and agricultural impact, and shadow flicker. (Gazette)
  • Solar generation saw its ninth consecutive year of growth in Ohio while wind production declined, largely due to unfavorable weather. (Axios)

CLIMATE:

  • North Dakota’s new climate plan highlights energy efficiency, tree-planting and soil health and makes no mention of coal, oil or gas. (North Dakota Monitor)
  • Ohio State University has made progress on its 2015 climate and sustainability goals, including carbon neutrality by 2050, but is nowhere near on-track to meet its targets, according to school officials. (Columbus Dispatch, subscription)

OHIO: FirstEnergy donated $2.5 million to a dark money group backing Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s campaign, according to newly released records. (Floodlight/USA Today)

OIL & GAS:

  • Ohioans living near a state park where legislation recently authorized fracking operations discuss with sadness how it has changed the area for the worse. (Ohio Capital Journal)
  • Ohio regulators order three injection wells to stop pumping fracked waste underground, six months after they were deemed an “imminent danger” for leaking toxic waste into the surrounding area. (Cleveland.com)
  • A watchdog group’s analysis finds Ohio had more than 1,400 oil and gas well incidents from 2018 to 2023, and that official state reports often downplayed the severity of the cases. (WVXU)

COAL: A St. Louis-area coal plant emitted far more sulfur dioxide pollution than any plant in the country, a news organization’s analysis finds. (Post-Dispatch)

NUCLEAR:

  • A shuttered Ohio plant that once made uranium for nuclear weapons is attracting new interest from companies tied to small nuclear reactors or hydrogen fuel, while local groups have concerns. (Ohio Newsroom)
  • A package of bipartisan bills would create incentives and remove barriers for establishing small modular nuclear reactors in Michigan. (WNEM)

BUILDINGS: A monastery expects to become Wisconsin’s first net-zero retreat center this year after it integrates battery storage and geothermal systems with its existing ground-mounted solar array. (Cap Times)

ETHANOL: The U.S. EPA issues an emergency fuel waiver allowing gasoline blended with 15% ethanol to be sold during the summer despite concerns that it contributes to ground-level ozone in warmer weather. (South Dakota Searchlight)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Minnesota electric vehicle driver has used a website and app to review nearly 2,100 charging stations over the last seven years. (Star Tribune)

Solar grants lead Biden’s Earth Day announcements
Apr 22, 2024

SOLAR: The U.S. EPA announces $7 billion in Solar for All grants for 60 projects expanding solar power access in low- and middle-income communities. (Associated Press)

ALSO: California grid operators look to exports, added transmission and battery storage to tame the deepening “duck curve” resulting from a growing solar power glut. (Washington Post)

CLIMATE: The White House launches a website that lists openings and accepts applications for the Climate Corps jobs and training program. (NPR)

MANUFACTURING: The U.S. Energy Department announces the first 35 projects receiving a total of nearly $2 billion in tax credits meant to accelerate clean energy manufacturing and emissions-reducing industrial projects. (E&E News, subscription; news release)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Workers at a Tennessee Volkswagen plant that makes electric vehicles overwhelmingly vote to unionize, handing the United Auto Workers a major breakthrough in its push to organize Southeast auto factories. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

OIL & GAS:

  • A media investigation finds new federal Bureau of Land Management oil and gas reclamation bonding amounts are based on faulty calculations and will not adequately cover cleanup costs. (Capital & Main)
  • Immigrants, including undocumented workers, make up much of the Permian Basin oilfield workforce, putting conservatives’ calls for more drilling and less immigration at odds. (USA Today)

OFFSHORE WIND:

GRID:

  • Waitlists to connect large renewable energy projects to the electric grid have ballooned across the U.S., leaving over 1,400 gigawatts of wind and solar projects in limbo. (Chicago Tribune)
  • Georgia’s approval of the construction of more natural gas-fired power plants to meet soaring energy demands of data centers is causing concern among the tech companies operating those data centers, many of which have aggressive clean energy goals. (Canary Media)
  • New York’s grid operator launches new market rules setting a minimum 10 kW capacity for distributed energy resources to participate in the wholesale markets, the first-such program of its kind in the country. (Utility Dive)

OHIO: FirstEnergy donated $2.5 million to a dark money group backing Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s campaign, according to newly released records. (Floodlight/USA Today)

Maryland advocates celebrate energy wins, contemplate setbacks
Apr 19, 2024

POLICY: Maryland environmentalists say they have a lot to celebrate after the state’s most recent legislative session, but also several setbacks, including failed bills to stop trash incineration subsidies and permitting changes to reduce further pollution in disadvantaged communities. (Bay Journal)

ALSO: Maryland’s chief sustainability officer says a budget amendment that delays building efficiency measures would put the state years behind on its climate goals and risk federal funding. (WBAL)

WIND:

HYDROPOWER:

  • In Canada, Hydro-Québec and the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake agree to jointly own a transmission line that will send hydropower to New York City. (Montreal Gazette)
  • Some Massachusetts farmers support relicensing four hydroelectric dams and a pumped storage facility on the Connecticut River, with one saying the infrastructure could help with flooding. (WWLP)
  • Hundreds of public comments have been filed against a proposed $2.5 billion dam and pumped storage project on the Lower Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania’s York County. (Penn Live Patriot News)

SOLAR:

  • New Jersey utility officials approve eight solar projects with a combined capacity of 310 MW, more than the target capacity, following a solicitation they reissued after receiving too-costly bids last year. (RTO Insider, subscription)
  • A life science building just outside of Boston has installed a 252 kW rooftop solar array with storage, as well as 15 electric vehicle chargers. (news release)
  • An affordable housing development on Martha’s Vineyard was supposed to have rooftop solar but hasn’t been able to install panels for two years because Eversource and Massachusetts officials need to upgrade a substation. (Vineyard Gazette)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

RENEWABLE ENERGY:

  • Northeast climate advocates want billions in federal climate dollars to be dispersed before the 2024 presidential election, as they’re concerned that another Trump term will end further renewable energy funding. (Boston Globe)
  • While New York lawmakers look to accelerate renewable energy project approvals, some rural municipalities worry they’ll remove local power to regulate projects. (CBS 6)

BIOGAS: An anaerobic digester company based in the Boston suburbs aims to hire up to 100 more workers in the next year as it looks toward its goal of opening 100 waste-to-gas facilities. (Boston Business Journal)

BUILDINGS: Federal energy officials grant $158 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds to New York to help homeowners pay for energy efficiency upgrades. (NCPR)

UTILITIES: Although New York’s Assembly is considering a bill to fully municipalize the Long Island Power Authority, state senators have yet to introduce such legislation. (TBR News Media)

INCINERATION: A new documentary highlights the plight and resilience of residents of a suburban Philadelphia city burdened with air pollution from a trash incineration plant. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Deepwater cleanup workers left stranded by settlement’s shortcomings
Apr 19, 2024

OIL & GAS: A $67 million medical claims settlement for cleanup workers in BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill has fallen far short of expectations, leaving the vast majority of workers with no more than $1,300 each for complicated, lasting health conditions. (Associated Press)

ALSO: Congressional Republicans grill a Biden administration official over how the pause on permitting new liquified natural gas export terminals is affecting U.S. allies in Asia and Europe. (Houston Chronicle)

TRANSITION: Health care emerges to account for more than 20% of all jobs in eastern Kentucky counties where coal mining jobs have declined 70% over the last generation, with jobs in educational services, remote work and tourism also growing. (Lexington Herald-Leader)

GRID:

SOLAR: A Georgia-based company strikes a deal to incorporate its monocrystalline silicon solar cells into solar panels made by a Minnesota company, ensuring a source of entirely domestically made solar panels. (Electrek, The Cool Down)

STORAGE: A Virginia commission approves incentives for a California company backed by a $100 million federal grant that’s considering building a lithium-ion battery factory. (Cardinal News)

WIND: “I hate wind”: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump reportedly rants about the wind industry during a Florida fundraising meal with oil and gas executives. (Washington Post)

GEOTHERMAL: A Texas business park built on a former military airfield unveils a geothermal HVAC system. (KXAN)

CARBON CAPTURE:

UTILITIES:

COMMENTARY:

  • A South Carolina bill to fast-track construction of a natural gas-fired power plant will benefit utilities but not state residents or ratepayers, who will be stuck with a less-than-reliable power source and potentially higher bills, writes a state regulator who resigned last month. (Post and Courier)
  • An Appalachian advocacy group calls on Virginia lawmakers to engage with coalfield communities to ensure they have a voice in the transition from fossil fuels. (Cardinal News)
  • Policymakers should listen to Gulf Coast communities that live in the shadow of liquified natural gas export facilities over the claims of oil executives, writes a community activist. (Common Dreams)

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