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EFFICIENCY: Volunteers with a Virginia climate group partner with four nonprofits to encourage their low-income clients to register for no-cost energy efficiency upgrades. (Energy News Network)
OIL & GAS: The specter of South Carolina’s $9 billion failed construction of a nuclear plant looms over new efforts by Dominion Energy and state-owned utility Santee Cooper to build a natural gas-fired power plant. (Post and Courier)
SOLAR:
CLEAN ENERGY:
NUCLEAR: Kentucky lawmakers unanimously pass legislation to prep the state for nuclear energy development, but clarify they see nuclear power as a complement and not replacement for coal. (Associated Press)
HYDROGEN: Texas boosters hype hydrogen as a clean fuel option for transportation companies, but critics warn that making it by using fossil fuels will further strengthen the oil and gas industry. (Texas Tribune)
WIND: Federal officials plan to auction leases for offshore wind in the Gulf of Mexico in four locations that are smaller than initially planned, but larger than last year’s auction. (NOLA.com)
GRID:
OVERSIGHT: Georgia lawmakers pass legislation to increase state energy regulators’ terms from six to eight years, as a long-running legal case that halted elections for the offices appears to be nearing a conclusion. (Associated Press)
CARBON CAPTURE: Louisiana State University plans to drill a well on campus to test carbon capture technology. (KTBS)
COMMENTARY: The natural gas industry’s promise to generate economic prosperity in Appalachia never came to pass even during times of booming output, and efforts to build a hydrogen hub will likely suffer the same fate while continuing to defile the land, writes a climate activist. (Parkersburg News and Sentinel)
EMISSIONS: The U.S. Energy Department announces $6 billion for 33 industrial decarbonization projects, including electrification at Kraft Heinz facilities and a carbon capture and storage system at a cement plant. (Associated Press)
OVERSIGHT: Senators question President Biden’s three Federal Energy Regulatory Commission nominees about the body’s authority, their past stances on natural gas, and other issues in a confirmation hearing. (Utility Dive)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Detroit automakers face a “very big balancing act” in the coming months and years as they attempt to match electric vehicle investments with anticipated consumer demand. (Bridge)
GRID:
OIL & GAS:
OFFSHORE WIND:
EFFICIENCY:
HYDROGEN: The U.S. Treasury Department today will hold the first public hearing on its proposed hydrogen tax credit. (E&E News, subscription)
COMMENTARY:
SOLAR: Federal officials will spend $475 million to fund five clean energy projects on current or former mining lands across the country, including $90 million for Pennsylvania’s Clearfield County, where a former coal mining area is slated to become a 402 MW solar field. (news release, electrek, WHYY)
ALSO:
OFFSHORE WIND:
POLICY: Pennsylvania’s governor is going to need Republican buy-in to form his newly proposed Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative alternative. (Spotlight PA)
GRID: In Connecticut, United Illuminating plans to build a replacement to the Pequonnock substation five feet above federal 100-year flood estimates and further from the shore to avoid storm outages. (News 12)
BUILDINGS:
HYDROGEN: A Delaware newspaper recounts what is currently known about the development of the Mid Atlantic Hydrogen Hub, although few firm details are available. (Delaware News Journal)
UTILITIES: If New York legislators can’t pass a bill to arrange a vote on whether to transition the Long Island Power Authority into a fully public utility, contracted operator PSEG might have its deal extended. (Newsday)
CLIMATE: Philadelphia’s Drexel University launches a new research center focused on policymaking that protects city dwellers from the health and equity impacts of climate change. (WHYY)
COMMENTARY: A founding faculty member of Syracuse University’s energy program writes New York will need a massive amount of lithium to reach its energy storage and electric vehicle adoption goals, though there’s no real strategy to recycle the material. (Syracuse.com)
GRID: Texas regulators approve rules governing a new $5 billion energy fund that the state will loan to companies to build new natural gas-fired power plants. (San Antonio Express-News)
ALSO:
OIL & GAS:
TRANSITION:
SOLAR:
CARBON CAPTURE: A company breaks ground on a direct air carbon capture plant in Texas, part of the leading edge of new technology the oil and gas industry is relying on to reduce its emissions, though critics say it’s too costly and energy-intensive. (Yale360)
ELECTRIFICATION: Austin, Texas, looks to revamp its “cash for clunkers” equipment recycling program to encourage residents and landscaping businesses to trade in gas-powered lawnmowers, leaf blowers and weed trimmers for electric models. (Austin Monitor)
POLITICS:
COMMENTARY:
GEOTHERMAL: Improved technology and federal incentives spur St. Paul, Minnesota’s school district to pursue geothermal heating and cooling as a way to cut emissions and building costs. (Energy News Network)
ALSO: The Potawatomi Tribe is installing a geothermal system at a Milwaukee casino and hotel to meet more than a quarter of the facility’s heating and cooling needs and reduce its carbon footprint. (Journal Sentinel)
SOLAR:
POWER PLANTS: Plans for a roughly $1 billion natural gas plant in far northwestern Wisconsin grow uncertain after a local planning board denies a land use request meant to advance the project. (Star Tribune)
PIPELINES: Michigan’s attorney general says a federal appeals court should send a pipeline dispute back to state court where the state can resume its case to shut down Line 5 in the Great Lakes. (MLive)
POLITICS: Republicans pounce on the U.S. EPA’s new tailpipe emission rules as a way to drive politically divided culture wars, accusing the Biden administration of taking away personal driving choices. (New York Times)
WIND: MidAmerican Energy installs sensors at three wind farms that flash red lights on turbines only when low-flying planes are nearby instead of continuously. (Yale Climate Connections)
GRID:
AIR POLLUTION: Chicago ranked second among U.S. cities for air pollution last year as dangerous fine particulate matter continued to exceed global guidelines and were made worse by Canadian wildfires. (Chicago Tribune)
COMMENTARY: Local restrictions on clean energy development deny communities a variety of social and economic benefits, a former law professor and clean energy advocate write. (Cleveland.com)
CLEAN ENERGY: The U.S. Energy Department announces $475 million for solar, storage and geothermal projects on current and former mine lands in five states: Arizona, Kentucky, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. (Associated Press)
EMISSIONS:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
OIL & GAS: Sixteen Republican-led states sue the federal government over its pause on new LNG export terminal approvals. (Axios)
GRID:
GEOTHERMAL:
CARBON CAPTURE: A company breaks ground on a direct air carbon capture plant in Texas, part of the leading edge of new technology the oil and gas industry is relying on to reduce its emissions. (Yale360)
ELECTRIFICATION: Two climate reporters share how they moved their house off natural gas, installing an electric heat pump, water heater and appliances. (Grist)
COMMENTARY:
CLIMATE: The Biden administration awards Washington state tribal nations more than $32 million to combat climate change’s disproportionate effects on Indigenous peoples. (Seattle Times)
ALSO:
COAL: Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signs controversial legislation opening the door for the state to purchase a coal power plant in order to keep it running past its scheduled retirement date. (Axios)
CLEAN ENERGY: The Biden administration allocates $475 million for clean energy projects on mine lands, including geothermal and battery storage systems at Arizona copper mines. (AZPM)
SOLAR:
WIND: Developers are planning or building more than 3,000 MW of wind capacity in Wyoming, but are running up against local opposition and concerns about environmental impacts. (Cowboy State Daily)
GRID: Two Northwest utilities plan to join the California grid operator’s extended day-ahead power market, giving it a leg up on the Southwest Power Pool’s competing initiative. (RTO Insider, subscription)
OIL & GAS:
TRANSPORTATION: U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, an Alaska Republican, pushes back on the Biden administration’s new tailpipe emissions standards, saying they could “eventually get rid of the combustion engine.” (Alaska Public Media)
METHANE: A national laboratory and a California utility develop a method of using wind and solar power to generate hydrogen, which is then used to convert carbon to pipeline-ready methane. (Renewable Energy Magazine)
GRID: An appellate court revives rural activists’ lawsuit aimed at blocking a substation proposed by the Campo tribe in southern California, saying tribal sovereign immunity doesn’t apply on private lands. (East County Magazine)
COMMENTARY: California energy analysts say the state’s proposed income-based, fixed-charge utility rate structure is the most equitable solution to the “utility death spiral” if designed correctly. (Conversation)
Geothermal heating and cooling is emerging as a go-to technology for St. Paul Public Schools as it seeks to renovate aging facilities in line with the district’s climate action plan.
Minnesota’s second-largest school district is also one of the city’s largest property owners, with 73 buildings containing more than 7.7 million square feet. Its climate action plan calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions at least 45% by 2030.
New technology and federal incentives have helped convince district leaders that geothermal is among its best options for slashing emissions from school buildings. The energy efficient systems pump refrigerant through a closed loop circuit of pipes that moves heat between buildings and below ground reservoirs.
Last year, the district completed a ground-source geothermal system while renovating the 1960s-era Johnson High School. This year, it’s installing a different type of system at two other schools that tap aquifers rather than the ground as a heating and cooling source.
The aquifer-based systems that will be used at Bruce Vento Elementary School and the nearly 100-year-old Hidden River Middle School were developed by a Twin Cities-based company called Darcy Solutions that specializes in water-based geothermal systems.
The company’s technology requires far fewer wells than conventional, ground-based systems, making them more practical for dense, urban neighborhoods. Darcy places heat exchangers directly into the wells, where they can capture heat from the constant, 52-degree groundwater.
Darcy’s system changed the school district’s thinking, said Tom Parent, the district’s executive director of operations and administration. The elementary school project required just five wells, compared to more than 150 ground source wells at Johnson High, which disrupted outdoor sports activities for two summers.
“We see a lot of promise,” Parent said. “This is an incredible leap in technology.”
Geothermal and aquifer-based systems could be an essential strategy for reducing emissions, along with energy efficiency, LED lighting, electric buses and solar energy, Parent said. Because many St. Paul schools have small footprints, Darcy’s system could become a go-to HVAC solution.
Traditional ground-source geothermal would have been “impossible” at either school because of their small sites, according to the district’s indoor air quality coordinator Angela Vreeland. Darcy’s geothermal systems also take up less interior space than traditional, fossil fuel heating systems.
In Minnesota, several trends are driving geothermal’s growth. Nearly all projects receiving state aid must follow the rigorous standards for energy efficiency. Matt Stringfellow, a manager with Kraus Anderson who works on geothermal installations, said that “any state-funded project pretty much requires that (geothermal) to meet their guidelines at this point.”
Another catalyst has been the Inflation Reduction Act. The law allows a commercial building owner installing geothermal to claim as much as a 30% tax credit. It will enable nonprofits to receive the equivalent amount in cash from the federal government.
Parent said the school district used federal money to pay for its first geothermal project and plans to submit paperwork to take advantage of the Inflation Reduction Act’s direct pay option for this year’s projects, too. While not the only driving force in selecting geothermal, it played a role, he said.
Robert Ed, Darcy’s director of marketing strategy, said geothermal is one of the only solutions for electrifying large buildings in cold climates. “There are other energy efficient technologies, but in a northern climate, being able to use geothermal energy and not having to expend a lot of energy to provide thermal capacity is a big advantage,” he said.
The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Belgium have been the primary users of geothermal aquifers, but Darcy aims to change that. Ed said the startup has expanded to Wisconsin and will now begin adding more states that have the right groundwater characteristics to work with its technology.
Parent said the Johnson project shows “just how viable (geothermal) can be under certain circumstances for our system. Now we’ve got two more projects underway with geoexchange systems; we’re learning how it can play a role in the continuous cycle of renewal in our buildings.”
Darcy advertises that its technology creates 70% fewer emissions and lower cooling costs than a traditional heating and cooling system. At Bruce Vento Elementary, named after a Minnesota congress member well-known for environmental advocacy, stakeholder engagement at the district level led to a desire to decrease energy intensity in buildings.
“Geothermal is the only way we are getting within spitting distance of what we want it to be able to do,” Parent said.
A Department of Energy analysis found retrofitting around 70% of buildings, combined with building envelope improvements, could bring a 13% reduction by 2050 in electricity demand.
Yet geothermal systems barely make a slice of the energy pie chart, producing less than 1% of the country’s energy capacity, according to the United States Department of Energy. The industry, however, is growing. Ground-source heat pump sales have grown by 3% annually, and the United States continues to be the international leader in geothermal energy.
The three schools will see significant savings over natural gas systems. Vreeland said the annual savings will be $143,000 at Hidden River Elementary and $200,000 at Bruce Vento. Both should pay for themselves in a decade. Johnson High’s savings will be $7 million over 30 years.
Darcy is also installing aquifer-based geothermal systems at two schools in Winona in southeastern Minnesota. It also recently installed a system at Rochester’s City Hall.
Parent said geothermal may not be the answer to every HVAC renovation, but it shouldn’t’ be overlooked.
“We don’t see a world in which geothermal energy is our only solution path forward because of the idiosyncrasies of our building, funding, and timing,” he said. “But it seems to be more and more the right answer.”
Four environmental groups filed an appeal Friday challenging an Ohio judge’s order declining to review state regulators’ decisions to allow oil and gas drilling under state park and wildlife areas.
The Notice of Appeal filed with Franklin County Court of Common Pleas takes issue with Judge Jaiza Page’s Feb. 23 order, which said the groups had no right to challenge rulings by the Ohio Oil & Gas Land Management Commission last November to allow drilling and fracking under Salt Fork State Park, Zepernick Wildlife Area and Valley Run Wildlife Area.
“Our appeal continues the fight for legal accountability and oversight of the commission’s decisions,” said Earthjustice attorney Megan Hunter, who is one of the lawyers representing groups in the appeal. Those groups include Save Ohio Parks, the Buckeye Environmental Network, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and the Ohio Environmental Council.
The move to drill and frack under state-owned lands was jump-started last year when Gov. Mike DeWine signed HB 507 into law. The statute would have required state agencies to lease lands unless the commission adopted rules and lease terms under a 2011 law. The leasing process under that law had languished after a widespread backlash a decade ago.
Once the commission adopted the rules and lease terms last spring, HB 507 no longer imposed any mandatory duty to allow drilling on state-owned lands. Instead, Ohio law requires the commission to consider nine factors. They include environmental impacts, effects on visitors or users of state-owned lands, economic benefits, public comments, and more.
In this case, the environmental groups claimed the commission didn’t consider all nine factors before reaching its decisions. They also objected to the commission’s failure to hold a hearing and accept public testimony for the proposed parcels at each park and wildlife area. Comments on the proposals detailed worries about possible contamination from accidents, anticipated interference with people’s ability to enjoy state parks and wildlife areas, and other objections.
Judge Page’s ruling rejected the environmental groups’ argument that the commission’s rulings could be appealed under a general statutory provision for “adjudication orders.” Instead, she noted there was no specific statutory language dealing with appeals from the Ohio Oil & Gas Land Management Commission. She also found the groups did not have standing to raise their claims.
Days after Judge Page’s ruling, the commission accepted a bid from Infinity Natural Resources, based in West Virginia, to drill under Salt Fork State Park. The commission also accepted Texas-based Encino Energy’s bids to drill under Zepernick Wildlife Area and Valley Run Wildlife area. Unless blocked, drilling is likely to start this spring.
Without judicial review of the commission’s actions, it’s unclear what checks, if any, exist over the commission’s decisions on drilling beneath park and wildlife areas.
“The Commission handed over Valley Run Wildlife Area, Zepernick Wildlife Area and Ohio’s largest state park — Salt Fork State Park — to drillers without considering the environmental and geologic impacts of oil and gas development,” Hunter said. “Thousands of state residents and users of these protected public lands demand accountability for this enormous failing.”
A separate lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of HB 507 remains pending. Meanwhile, new filings this month ask the commission to allow drilling and fracking under Egypt Valley Wildlife Area and Keen Wildlife Area.
SOLAR: An Arizona utility brings a 260 MW solar project and the state’s largest battery energy storage installation online to power a Phoenix-area Google data center. (Energy Storage News)
ALSO:
UTILITIES:
CLIMATE:
ELECTRIFICATION: A southern Nevada county seeks a $500 million federal grant to support heat pump installations, efficiency upgrades and other climate-friendly improvements for low-income households. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
OIL & GAS:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Automaker Stellantis agrees to comply with California’s strict auto emissions standards requiring that 68% of light-duty vehicle sales be zero-emission or plug-in hybrid by 2030. (Associated Press)
COAL: Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon signs legislation directing state and federal funds toward cleaning up abandoned coal mines. (Wyoming Public Radio)
CARBON CAPTURE: A startup announces plans to build a direct air carbon capture facility in Wyoming using its relatively-low cost technology. (Heatmap)
GEOTHERMAL: Bipartisan U.S. lawmakers from Nevada, Idaho and Utah introduce federal legislation aimed at encouraging geothermal energy development by streamlining the permitting process. (news release)
LITHIUM: A company proposing a direct-lithium extraction project in southeastern Utah expects its pilot processing facility to come online this spring. (Moab Times-Independent)
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