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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: As Indiana starts to deploy $100 million in federal funding for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, an alliance wants to make sure state officials are including chargers in Black and disadvantaged communities. (Indianapolis Star)
ALSO:
UTILITIES:
COAL: Cancer rates related to air pollution are 12% higher near plants that use coal to make steel compared to national rates, and 26% higher for residents living near coke plants, a new study found. (Inside Climate News)
PIPELINES:
WIND: An Iowa county board expands a moratorium on wind turbines to include various other items such as towers and wind-measuring equipment. (Clinton Herald)
SOLAR: An installer completes construction on a 2.8 MW solar parking canopy project at the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio. (Solar Power World)
OVERSIGHT: A Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa citizen is running for a seat on the North Dakota Public Service Commission opposing plans for a carbon pipeline, while the incumbent Republican wants renewable developers to pay “their share” of grid infrastructure costs. (North Dakota Monitor)
GRID: Power plant owners support PJM’s proposal to delay an upcoming capacity auction by six months to craft new capacity market rules, but warn that longer delays could erode investor confidence. (Utility Dive)
BIOFUELS: Backers say extending a federal biofuel tax credit by 10 years would provide farmers economic certainty and help jumpstart the sustainable aviation fuel industry. (Michigan Farm News)
COMMENTARY: Xcel Energy’s proposal to build 800 MW of distributed solar and storage comes as the utility stifles attempts by customers to deploy distributed projects, a clean energy advocate writes. (Canary Media)
INDUSTRY: A new report links coal-powered steel plants, including one outside Pittsburgh, to increased asthma symptoms, cancer rates, and other health effects. (Inside Climate News)
NUCLEAR:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
GRID: Power plant owners tell federal regulators they support PJM Interconnection’s plans to delay its capacity auctions while it creates new capacity market rules but fear the pause will hurt investor confidence. (Utility Dive)
EFFICIENCY:
SOLAR: Sunrun launches a virtual power plant program with a downstate New York utility that ties together more than 300 solar-plus-storage installations. (PV Magazine)
POLITICS:
OFFSHORE WIND: GE Vernova says its offshore wind business just finished its strongest quarter in years, but the failure of a Vineyard Wind turbine blade and the company’s need to replace other components posed huge challenges. (RTO Insider, subscription; E&E News, subscription)
EMISSIONS: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul defends her pause of New York City’s congestion pricing plan even as funding for the city’s public transit system falls into further danger. (Times Union)
COAL: Tribal nations in Montana’s coal country look to clean energy to help them weather the industry’s decline, but say a lack of resources hampers efforts to tap federal transition funding. (Montana Free Press)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A report finds state and federal incentives and cheap leases are driving electric vehicle sales in Colorado, putting the state into second place nationally for EV adoption. (CPR)
WIND:
OIL & GAS:
POLITICS: Rep. Mary Peltola, an Alaska Democrat, says she bases her approach to oil and gas drilling and mining projects on regional Native corporations’ positions on the issues. (Alaska Beacon)
NUCLEAR: Amazon and utilities propose advanced nuclear reactors in Washington state to power the firm’s data centers in Oregon, which has a ban on new nuclear plants. (OPB)
HYDROGEN: A California startup begins manufacturing advanced alkaline electrolyzers for industrial-scale green hydrogen production at its new Silicon Valley facility. (Bloomberg)
SOLAR: A developer proposes a 425 MW solar-plus-battery storage installation to power an adjacent data center on a U.S. Navy base in California. (Data Center Dynamics)
CLEAN ENERGY: A federal report finds California leads the nation in the number of clean energy jobs, Nevada and Colorado are in seventh and eighth place, respectively, and Wyoming is last. (Yale Climate Connections)
UTILITIES: A report finds agencies have downgraded more than 100 utilities’ credit ratings due to wildfire hazard as insurance and mitigation costs have increased, leading to higher electricity rates. (Utility Dive)
CARBON CAPTURE: California researchers develop a powder that sucks greenhouse gasses from the air and traps them in its microscopic pores for use in direct-air carbon capture technology. (Deseret News)
COMMENTARY: California analysts say climate change-exacerbated heat waves, wildfires and extreme weather pose a greater threat to the outdated power grid than increasing levels of clean energy. (Utility Dive)
STORAGE: The U.S. added 5 GW of utility-scale battery storage in the first seven months of this year, bringing total installations to 21.4 GW and continuing an exponential deployment trend. (The Guardian)
ALSO:
COAL:
GRID: Power plant owners support PJM’s proposal to delay an upcoming capacity auction by six months to craft new capacity market rules, but warn that longer delays could erode investor confidence. (Utility Dive)
POLITICS:
WORKFORCE: A report finds some small states are punching above their weight in clean job creation, while some top fossil fuel-producing states are missing an opportunity to shift their economies. (Yale Climate Connections)
EMISSIONS:
MATERIALS: The U.S. Treasury Department unveils tax incentives for material extraction and producing clean energy components. (Axios)
NUCLEAR: Amazon and utilities propose advanced nuclear reactors in Washington state to power the firm’s data centers in Oregon, which has a ban on new nuclear plants. (OPB)
UTILITIES: A report finds agencies have downgraded more than 100 utilities’ credit ratings due to wildfire hazard as insurance and mitigation costs have increased, leading to higher electricity rates. (Utility Dive)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
EFFICIENCY: Harvard University researchers retrofitted a 1940s home with a ground-source heat pump, solar panels and other efficient technologies to show how older homes can achieve carbon neutrality. (Utility Dive)
Seventeen days after Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina, tearing down power lines, destroying water mains, and disabling cell phone towers, the signs of relief were hard to miss.
Trucks formed a caravan along Interstate 40, filled with camouflaged soldiers, large square tanks of water, and essentials from pet food to diapers. In towns, roadside signs — official versions emblazoned with nonprofit relief logos and wooden makeshift ones scrawled with paint — advertised free food and water.
And then there were the generators.
The noisy machines powered the trailers where Asheville residents sought showers, weeks after the city’s water system failed. They fueled the food trucks delivering hot meals to the thousands without working stoves. They filtered water for communities to drink and flush toilets.
Western North Carolina is far from unique. In the wake of disaster, generators are a staple of relief efforts around the globe. But across the region, a New Orleans-based nonprofit is working to displace as many of these fossil fuel burners as they can, swapping in batteries charged with solar panels instead.
It’s the largest response effort the Footprint Project has ever deployed in its short life, and organizers hope the impact will extend far into the future.
“If we can get this sustainable tech in fast, then when the real rebuild happens, there’s a whole new conversation that wouldn’t have happened if we were just doing the same thing that we did every time,” said Will Heegaard, operations director for the organization.
“Responders use what they know works, and our job is to get them stuff that works better than single-use fossil fuels do,” he said. “And then, they can start asking for that. It trickles up to a systems change.”
The rationale for diesel and gas generators is simple: they’re widely available. They’re relatively easy to operate. Assuming fuel is available, they can run 24-7, keeping people warm, fed, and connected to their loved ones even when the electric grid is down. Indubitably, they save lives.
But they’re not without downsides. The burning of fossil fuels causes not just more just more carbon that exacerbates the climate crisis, but smog and soot-forming air pollutants that can trigger asthma attacks and other respiratory problems.
In Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, generators were so prevalent after the electric grid failed that harmful air pollution in San Juan soared above the safe legal limit. The risk is especially acute for sensitive populations who turn to generators for powering vital equipment like oxygenators.
There are also practical challenges. Generators aren’t cheap, retailing at big box stores for more than $1,000. Once initial fuel supplies run out — as happened in parts of Western North Carolina in the immediate aftermath of Helene — it can be difficult and costly to find more. And the machines are noisy, potentially harming health and creating more stress for aid workers and the people they serve.
Heegaard witnessed these challenges firsthand in Guinea in 2016 when he was responding to an Ebola outbreak. A paramedic, his job was to train locals to collect blood samples and store them in generator-powered refrigerators that would be motorcycled to the city of Conakry for testing. He had a grant to give cash reimbursements to the lab techs for the fuel.
“This is so hard already, and the idea of doing a cash reimbursement in a super poor rural country for gas generators seems really hard,” Heegaard recalled thinking. “I had heard of solar refrigerators. I asked the local logistician in Conakry, ‘Are these things even possible?’”
The next day, the logistician said they were. They could be installed within a month. “It was just a no-brainer,” said Heegaard. “The only reason we hadn’t done it is the grant wasn’t written that way.”
Two years later, the Footprint Project was born of that experience. With just seven full-time staff, the group cycles in workers in the wake of disaster, partnering up with local solar companies, nonprofits and others, to gather supplies and distribute as many as they can.
They deploy solar-powered charging stations, water filtration systems, and other so-called climate tech to communities who need it most — starting with those without power, water, or a generator at all, and extending to those looking to offset their fossil fuel combustion.
The group has now built nearly 50 such solar-powered microgrids in the region, from Lake Junaluska to Linville Falls, more than it has ever supplied in the wake of disaster. The recipients range from volunteer fire stations to trailer parks to an art collective in West Asheville.
Mike Talyad, a photographer who last year launched the collective to support artists of color, teamed up with the Grassroots Aid Partnership, a national nonprofit, to fill in relief gaps in the wake of Helene. “The whole city was trying to figure it out,” he said.
Solar panels from Footprint that initially powered a water filter have now largely displaced the generators for the team’s food trucks, which last week were providing 1,000 meals a day. “When we did the switchover,” Talyad said, “it was a time when gas was still questionable.”
Last week, the team at Footprint also provided six solar panels, a Tesla battery, and charging station to displace a noisy generator at a retirement community in South Asheville.
The device was powering a system that sucked water from a pond, filtered it, and rendered it potable. Picking up their jugs of drinking water, a steady flow of residents oohed and aahed as the solar panels were installed, and sighed in relief when the din of the generator abated.
“Most responders are not playing with solar microgrids because they’re better for the environment,” said Heegaard. “They’re playing with it because if they can turn their generator off for 12 hours a day, that means literally half the fuel savings. Some of them are spending tens of thousands of dollars a month on diesel or gas. That is game changing for a response.”
Footprint’s robust relief effort and the variety of its beneficiaries is owed in part to the scale of Helene’s destruction, with more than 1 million in North Carolina alone who initially lost power.
“It’s really hard to put into words what’s happening out there right now,” said Matt Abele, the executive director of the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association, who visited in the early days after the storm. “It is just the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever seen — whole mobile home parks that are just completely gone.”
But the breadth of the response is also owed to Footprint’s approach to aid, which is rooted in connections to grassroots groups, government organizations, and the local solar industry. All have partnered together for the relief effort.
“We’ve been incredibly overwhelmed by the positive response that we’ve seen from the clean energy community,” Abele said, “both from an equipment donation standpoint and a financial resources standpoint.”
Some four hours east of the devastation in Western North Carolina, Greentech Renewables Raleigh has been soliciting and storing solar panels and other goods. It’s also raising money for products that are harder to get for free — like PV wire and batteries. Then it trucks the supplies west.
“We’ve got bodies, we’ve got trucks, we’ve got relationships,” said Shasten Jolley, the manager at the company, which warehouses and sells supplies to a variety of installers. “So, we try to utilize all those things to help out.”
The cargo is delivered to Mars Hill, a tiny college town about 20 miles north of Asheville that was virtually untouched by Helene. Through a local regional government organization, Frank Johnson, the owner of a robotics company, volunteered his 110,000-square-foot facility for storage.
Johnson is just one example of how people in the region have leapt to help each other, said Abele, who’s based in Raleigh.
“You can tell when you’re out there,” he said, “that so many people in the community are coping by showing up for their neighbors.”
To be sure, Footprint’s operations aren’t seamless at every turn. For instance, most of the donated solar panels designated for the South Asheville retirement community didn’t work, a fact the installers learned once they’d made the 40-minute drive in the morning and tried to connect them to the system. They returned later that afternoon with functioning units, but then faced the challenge of what to do with the broken ones.
“This is solar aid waste,” Heegaard said. “The last site we did yesterday had the same problem. Now we have to figure out how to recycle them.”
It’s also not uncommon for the microgrids to stop working, Heegaard said, because of understandable operator errors, like running them all night to provide heat.
But above all, the problem for Footprint is scale. A tiny organization among behemoth relief groups, they simply don’t have the bandwidth for a larger response. When Milton followed immediately on the heels of Helene, Heegaard’s group made the difficult choice to hunker down in North Carolina.
With climate-fueled weather disasters poised to increase, the organization hopes to entice the biggest, most well-resourced players in disaster relief to start regularly using solar microgrids in their efforts.
As power is slowly restored across the region, with just over 5,000 remaining without electricity, there’s also the question of what comes next.
While there’s a parallel conversation underway among advocates and policymakers about making microgrids and distributed solar a more permanent feature of the grid, Footprint also hopes to inspire some of that change from the ground up. Maybe the volunteer fire station decides to put solar panels on its roof when it rebuilds, for instance.
“We can change the conversation around resilience and recovery by directly pointing to something that worked when the lights were out and debris was in the street,” Heegaard said.
As for the actual Footprint equipment, the dream is to create “lending libraries” in places like Asheville, to be cycled in and out of community events and disaster relief.
“The solar trailer or the microgrid or the water maker that went to the Burnsville elementary school right after the storm – that can be recycled and used to power the music stage or the movie in the park,” Heegaard said. “Then that equipment is here, it’s being utilized, and it’s available for the next response, whether it’s in Knoxville or Atlanta or South Carolina.”
NUCLEAR: Shuttered nuclear reactors in Michigan, Iowa and Pennsylvania are the country’s most obvious candidates for restarting, a nuclear expert says, adding that others in the U.S. would be long-shots. (Utility Dive)
POLLUTION: Michigan’s coal-based steel and coke facilities contribute to about 40-80 premature deaths and more than 20,000 asthma cases a year, according to a new report from an advocacy and research group. (Planet Detroit)
BIOGAS: Michigan officials approve hundreds of millions of dollars in tax-exempt bonds that would help Chevron and other entities complete several facilities that convert farm waste to renewable natural gas. (WOOD-TV8)
WIND: Zoning officials in eastern Iowa continue work on a draft ordinance for new wind regulations nearly a year and a half after enacting a moratorium on commercial projects. (Telegraph Herald)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: An Illinois county board leader resigns from his position after taking a job with a Chinese-owned company that’s building a controversial EV battery plant there. (Chicago Tribune, subscription)
BIOFUELS: The Iowa Sierra Club calls a $1 million federal rural clean energy grant for an ethanol producer a “boondoggle.” (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
SOLAR: Minnesota loses its effort to send back to state court a case claiming a group of companies marketing loans for residential solar panels violated consumer protection laws. (Bloomberg Law, subscription)
CARBON CAPTURE: The U.S. Department of Energy awards $518 million to develop 23 carbon capture and storage projects across 19 states, which are still being negotiated and face environmental review. (E&E News, subscription)
POLITICS: Attorneys for former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and his close associate plan to strongly challenge prosecutors’ theory about Madigan exchanging favorable legislation with jobs for his allies. (Chicago Sun-Times)
STORAGE: Long-duration energy storage startup Form Energy, which is developing a commercial pilot project with a Minnesota utility, recently raised $405 million in capital to scale up the company. (Utility Dive)
GRID: Illinois consumer advocates push back on Ameren’s more than $300 million rate increase request to help pay for grid infrastructure projects, saying the amount is excessive. (WEEK)
COMMENTARY:
CLEAN ENERGY: A new report highlights clean energy’s dramatic expansion over the past decade, with U.S. solar, wind and geothermal power production more than tripling since 2014. (Floodlight)
ALSO: The U.S. Energy Department announces $428 million for 14 clean manufacturing projects in areas hit hard by the closure of coal plants and mines, including $52 million for a low-carbon concrete material facility in Utah. (Axios, Canary Media)
CARBON CAPTURE: The U.S. Department of Energy awards $518 million to develop 23 carbon capture and storage projects across 19 states, which are still being negotiated and face environmental review. (E&E News, subscription)
NUCLEAR:
OIL & GAS:
SOLAR: Portable solar systems became a lifeline for North Carolina residents during lengthy blackouts caused by Hurricane Helene, especially because solar systems at schools and other community centers lacked battery storage capacity. (WFAE)
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: The company redeveloping the former site of the East Coast’s largest oil refinery agrees to cut emissions, remove contamination, and work with community groups addressing the health problems caused by pollution from the refinery. (Inside Climate News)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
STORAGE: Long-duration energy storage startup Form Energy raises $405 million in capital to scale up the company. (Utility Dive)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Washington state’s electric vehicle rebate program runs out of funds three times faster than expected after more than 6,000 residents take advantage of the incentives. (My Northwest)
TRANSPORTATION: Los Angeles officials say a plan for a “car free” 2028 Olympic Games has run up against funding shortages, potentially forcing them to scuttle some proposed transit projects. (Los Angeles Times)
COAL: The U.S. Supreme Court rejects Wyoming’s and 24 other states’ bid to pause Biden administration rules requiring power plants to slash greenhouse gas emissions, which could eventually force some facilities in the state to close. (WyoFile)
CLIMATE:
OIL & GAS:
PUBLIC LANDS: Advocates worry a second Trump administration would resume efforts to dismantle federal land management agencies, resulting in less oversight of oil and gas drilling and other development. (High Country News)
EMISSIONS: The U.S. Energy Department awards a Colorado startup $52 million to build a low-carbon concrete-material manufacturing facility in a former coal town in Utah. (Canary Media)
SOLAR:
MICROGRIDS: The U.S. Energy Department allocates $50 million to an effort to install battery-powered microgrids at California water utility sites. (news release)
NUCLEAR: Utah and other Western states team up to create economic development plans around potential advanced nuclear reactor deployment. (Deseret News)
COMMENTARY: A Colorado evangelical advocate says the “urgent crisis” of climate change should influence how Americans vote on all races and issues in November. (Colorado Newsline)
The following commentary was written by Mel Mackinm, director of state policy at Ceres, a nonprofit that works with investors and companies to advance clean energy policy. See our commentary guidelines for more information.
Look out across Michigan and you’ll see groundbreakings for major solar panel manufacturing sites, huge investments to build battery cells, and sparkling new facilities to ensure the state stays in the driver’s seat as the auto industry moves into the future.
It seems Michigan manufacturing is having a moment.
It’s little wonder why. Michigan has always had the legacy, the workforce, the supply chains, and the know-how to serve as the epicenter of an American manufacturing renaissance. That’s exactly what’s happened since Congress finalized the nation’s largest-ever clean energy investment in the summer of 2022.
Powered by incentives for companies to manufacture and deploy clean energy infrastructure and technology here in the U.S., the Inflation Reduction Act has unlocked more than $360 billion in private-sector investment in less than two years, according to research from Climate Power. Its impact has been felt in every corner of the country with hundreds of new projects taking shape to build innovative technologies, employ hundreds of thousands of workers, and power the economy – all while cutting costs and pollution. But no other state has seen as much activity as Michigan, the site of 58 new clean energy projects.
Michigan policymakers deserve some credit for moving quickly to take full advantage of this opportunity. In 2022, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made clear in her MI Healthy Climate Plan that she wanted to make Michigan one of the best places in the world to build and deploy clean energy. Lawmakers since followed her lead with legislation that will move the state to 100% clean electricity by 2040 and ensure clean power infrastructure can be built both quickly and responsibly – a pair of laws that boasted ample support from Michigan companies that recognize confronting climate change is also an economic opportunity.
These policies were designed to fully harness the Inflation Reduction Act, making clear that the state is ready to support the growing number of businesses that supply or rely on innovative clean technology. In response, businesses that include classic Michigan manufacturers like GM, global brands like Corning, and upstarts like Lucid Motors have flooded the state with more than $21.5 billion in new clean energy innovation and manufacturing investment, creating some 20,100 new jobs.
With projects located from Detroit to Holland to Traverse City, so much of the state is already benefitting. That includes communities that have so far been left behind in the 21st century economy. About half of the state’s recent clean energy investment is located in rural or low-income areas, such as Norm Fasteners’ $77 million facility that will create 200 electric vehicle supply chain jobs in Bath Charter Township.
Now is not the time to slow down. We are now in the throes of the 2024 election, and we all know Michigan has been getting a lot of attention. No matter what happens in November, Michigan and the U.S. must continue investing in this revamped manufacturing base. Policymakers on both sides of the aisle have prioritized rebuilding American industry to provide good jobs and bolster U.S. leadership
Michigan’s clean energy manufacturing boom provides clear evidence that this shared goal is coming to fruition. Policymakers at both the federal and state levels, along with leaders in the private sector, must maintain this momentum and the strong policy environment that will allow the U.S. and its workforce to lead the global economy in the emerging industries of the future – with Michigan, as it so often has, standing strong as the foundation.
It’s been a year since the Energy Department announced long-awaited funding to help establish a network of regional clean hydrogen hubs across the country. We’re still waiting for something to come of it.
Hydrogen is hoped to one day play an important role in decarbonizing heavy industry, replacing natural gas in areas where clean electricity isn’t a practical substitute. The problem: most hydrogen produced today is made from fossil fuels using a method that emits significant greenhouse gasses.
Last October, the DOE announced it would provide $7 billion to jumpstart seven regional hubs to produce, store and transport a low-emission version of the fuel. The grants were supposed to help attract needed private investment, and hubs need to have a detailed plan ready within the next few months before they’re eligible for more federal funding.
But so far, the projects haven’t publicly disclosed how those plans or investments are coming along, Canary Media reports. The hubs also haven’t shared their potential climate and community impacts — factors that have left advocates especially concerned. After all, hydrogen hasn’t been produced on such a big scale before, and it’ll take a lot of renewable power — or carbon capture — to make it happen.
The Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub, which aims to burn natural gas to create hydrogen in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, provides a hint at some potential problems. A new report reveals a third of the projects slated to be part of the ARCH2 hub have been canceled, and four of its development partners have left.
ARCH2 leaders told Inside Climate News that “adjustments were expected” as the project evolved. But some companies say they withdrew from the project because it still wasn’t clear how they’d access federal hydrogen tax credits, and that’s an issue projects across the country don’t have an answer for either.
⚡️ It’s the “age of electricity:” The world is entering an “age of electricity,” the International Energy Agency says, noting global power demand is rising faster than expected but also predicting countries will build enough solar, wind and nuclear power to meet that demand by 2030. (Axios, New York Times)
🌀 Big grid boost: The U.S. Energy Department announces $2 billion in grants to shore up and expand the power grid, including a previously announced $612 million for areas wracked by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. (Canary Media)
🏭 Emissions crackdown continues — for now: The U.S. Supreme Court declines to pause the Biden administration’s power plant emissions rule as it faces legal challenges, though Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s opinion suggests those challenges may ultimately be successful. (Associated Press, E&E News)
💰 A “bad deal” on fossil fuel taxes: Newly required disclosures to U.S. financial regulators reveal for the first time the billions of dollars fossil fuel companies have paid to world governments — and suggest the U.S. is likely “getting a bad deal” by not charging higher taxes on resource extraction. (Inside Climate News)
🧰 Heat pumps cool down: Analysts and observers say heat pump deployment has slowed due to construction trends and the fact that federal incentives target consumers, not contractors. (Washington Post)
🏛️ Ancient advice: Researchers learn from ancient Roman concrete as they look to devise lower-carbon alternatives to what’s used today. (New York Times)
🔨 Delay the array? Homeowners looking to install rooftop solar panels often run into a dilemma when they learn their roofs will need to be replaced before the lifespan of their array expires. (Grist)
🏠 Talk about inefficiency: Twenty-three states have yet to submit plans to access billions in federal funding in homeowner rebates for energy efficient upgrades, while some states are already offering the incentives. (Houston Chronicle)
🇺🇸 Plus, some politics
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