Dan Haugen, Author at Energy News Network

Minnesota seeks ombudsperson to ease interconnection process

Dan Haugen — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 12:57:06 +0000

SOLAR: Minnesota solar developers hope that a newly created interconnection ombudsperson role will help ease frustrations and delays related to connecting projects to utilities’ power grids. (Energy News Network)

ALSO: South Dakota’s largest solar farm, a 128 MW project east of Rapid City, comes online after a year of construction. (Dakota Scout)

STORAGE:

A former coal-fired power plant south of Detroit is set to become the largest stand-alone energy storage site in the Great Lakes region. (Fast Company)
Critics say battery storage fire safety legislation awaiting the governor’s signature in Illinois could burden small businesses by requiring them to register as automotive parts recyclers in order to store used batteries. (The Center Square)

BUILDINGS: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signs legislation prohibiting homeowner associations from blocking clean energy-related improvements, including solar panels, heat pumps, and vehicle charging equipment. (MLive)

OIL & GAS: The U.S. Justice Department proposes changes to its consent decree with Enbridge over the 2010 Kalamazoo River oil spill that could require the company to repair previously identified cracks in its Midwest pipeline system. (Detroit News)

PIPELINES:

An aviation biofuels company contributed $167,000 to a South Dakota political committee defending the state’s new carbon pipeline law against a potential ballot referendum. (South Dakota Searchlight)
Iowa regulators approve a public meeting schedule to consider the proposed expansion of Summit Carbon Solutions’ planned carbon dioxide pipeline to connect it to ethanol plants in the state. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

Consumers Energy announces plans to help build 1,500 public fast chargers by 2030, part of an effort by Michigan utilities to build up the state’s electric vehicle charging network. (Bridge Michigan)
Nearly two years after Nebraska received more than $30 million in federal funding for electric vehicle charging stations, none of the money has been disbursed. (Nebraska Public Media)

CLEAN ENERGY: A forthcoming paper in a Minnesota law journal proposes that clean energy developers should prioritize projects on marginal land such as retired mines, closed landfills, and brownfields, to avoid public opposition. (Heatmap)

HYDROPOWER: A Minnesota hydropower dam will double its generating capacity after a $48 million renovation project by a county and Xcel Energy. (Pioneer Press)

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Minnesota seeks ombudsperson to ease interconnection process is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

Federal money helping to repurpose Virginia coal sites

Dan Haugen — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 12:14:33 +0000

Southeast Energy News is taking a break for the Fourth of July. We’ll be back Monday, July 8.

COAL: Unprecedented federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is helping Southwest Virginia diversify its economy through redevelopment of abandoned mine land sites. (Virginia Mercury)

CLIMATE: Austin, Texas’ city council considers asking voters to approve a climate bond to help pay for projects related to the city’s climate goals, but the mayor wants to delay the process until 2026. (KXAN)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Rivian reports that it sold more electric vehicles than it manufactured in the last quarter, during which the company also reiterated its plans to build a factory in Georgia. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

SOLAR:

A solar developer withdraws its application to build a large solar farm and says it will come back with a smaller proposal after a Virginia county planning commission denied a permit. (Cardinal News)
The developers of a planned Alabama solar farm hold an open house to answer questions for local residents, not all of whom are happy about the project. (Moulton Advertiser)

OIL & GAS: Texas oil and gas regulators ask the state’s attorney general to sue the U.S. EPA over its decision to list the dunes sagebrush lizard as endangered. (E&E News, subscription)

UTILITIES: Entergy New Orleans promotes a new vice president of regulatory and public affairs who will lead the company’s engagement with the New Orleans City Council. (news release)

POLITICS: Florida Congressmember Anna Paulina Luna has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into a political donor’s oil and gas company. (Tampa Bay Times)

COMMENTARY:

Move over Michigan: Georgia is “quietly but confidently emerging as the undisputed national leader in the electrifying auto sector,” writes a clean transportation advocate. (Georgia Recorder)
As North Carolina’s electric vehicle industry takes off, the oil industry is airing misleading ads to stoke fear about the opportunities EVs offer the state, writes an environmental advocate. (WRAL)

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Federal money helping to repurpose Virginia coal sites is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

Judge sinks Biden’s LNG permitting pause

Dan Haugen — Tue, 02 Jul 2024 12:12:10 +0000

OIL & GAS: A federal judge halts the Biden administration’s pause on new liquified natural gas export approvals, siding with industry and 16 Republican-led states that had challenged the freeze. (E&E News)

ALSO: Permian Basin truck drivers block entrances to frac sand mines as they demand better pay and working conditions, marking a first-ever organized labor movement in the nation’s busiest oil field. (Texas Tribune)

UTILITIES: Georgia Power faces pressure as large customers and local governments demand a faster transition to clean energy to meet their own targets. (WABE)

SOLAR: New Virginia laws will expand a Dominion Energy shared solar program and establish a new program for Appalachian Power customers. (VPM)

OVERSIGHT: Kentucky’s top utility regulator resigns as his term expires, with Gov. Andy Beshear expected to appoint a replacement soon. (Kentucky Lantern)

GRID: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announces plans to double a new state fund that offers low-interest loans to help develop new gas-fired power plants. (Texas Tribune)

WIND: About 140 people pack a Texas county commission meeting to oppose a proposed wind farm project west of Houston. (Fayette County Record)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announces $11.2 million in federal grants to install electric vehicle charging stations at 14 locations in the state. (WSFA)

CLIMATE:

The Biden administration announces $19.2 million in funding for a South Florida climate tech hub that will research low-carbon concrete and other products to help make coastlines more resilient to rising seas. (Miami Herald)
A recent study by Oklahoma researchers finds climate change is likely to intensify hazard risk and social injustice for Native Americans. (ICT)

POLITICS: The federal climate money pouring into Georgia under President Biden has created awkward political dynamics for Republicans, who opposed the funding but have also touted its economic impact on rural towns. (BBC)

COMMENTARY: North Carolina regulators should force Duke Energy to rethink and modify its Carbon Plan proposal to include a cleaner, more predictable and affordable mix of power sources, writes an advisory board member with the Environmental Defense Fund. (Energy News Network)

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Judge sinks Biden’s LNG permitting pause is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

Virginia governor’s power grab derails state climate progress

Dan Haugen — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 12:30:11 +0000

POLICY: Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has unilaterally disregarded multiple state climate laws passed by the Democratically controlled legislature, creating a legal crisis that could delay implementation for years. (E&E News)

OFFSHORE WIND:

The federal government announces an offshore wind energy lease sale that will include areas off the coast of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. (WRDE)
A giant ship being built in Brownsville, Texas, is expected to boost the country’s capacity to build offshore wind farms when it’s completed next year, though a second Trump presidency could imperil future projects. (NBC News)

CLIMATE:

Stronger storms and sea-level rise are accelerating erosion that has caused six beachfront homes in four years to collapse along North Carolina’s Outer Banks. (WTVD)
A study finds that heat waves in Richmond, Virginia, disproportionately affect low-income, Black residents, who often live in urban heat islands and also lack convenient access to cooling centers. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
A new Virginia law taking effect today bans utilities from shutting off electricity for nonpayment if temperatures reach 92 degrees or more. (WWBT)

UTILITIES: At least 60 neighbors have emailed North Carolina regulators to oppose Duke Energy’s plans to build two natural gas turbines on the site of an existing coal-fired power plant. (News & Observer)

EFFICIENCY:

North Carolina lawmakers advance legislation that would establish a Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy program in the state. (WRAL)
A new Florida law lets homeowners finance energy saving and resilience improvements through their property tax assessments. (Florida Politics)

GRID: An Austin energy consultant discusses the state of Texas’ power grid, including how solar is helping it meet summertime demand. (Texas Observer)

SOLAR:

A nonprofit group’s new solar training program in Georgetown, South Carolina, is paying students to learn how to install solar infrastructure. (WMBF)
A dozen New Orleans churches have established solar-powered resilience hubs where residents can come during power outages and disasters. (WVUE)
A West Virginia county commission takes no action on a solar project’s proposed payment-in-lieu-of-taxes arrangement after hearing local opposition. (Journal)

COAL: Virginia’s efforts to clean up abandoned mine lands have been supercharged by federal funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. (Virginia Mercury)

CO2 STORAGE: As Texas opens more offshore areas for carbon sequestration projects, experts foresee the Gulf Coast becoming a global hub for underground disposal of greenhouse gases. (Inside Climate News)

PIPELINES: Virginia organizers mark the fourth anniversary of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s cancellation with a celebration and book release about the pipeline fight. (Daily Progress)

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Virginia governor’s power grab derails state climate progress is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.

Heat deaths, power outages getting worse

Dan Haugen — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 12:27:58 +0000

GRID: Weather-related power outages, such as those that recently struck Texas, are happening more frequently as storms intensify and an aging electric grid struggles to keep pace with demands. (CNN)

ALSO:

Connecting Texas’ electric grid to the rest of the nation could slash carbon emissions and prevent power outages like the one during the deadly 2021 winter storm, a new study concludes. (E&E News, subscription)
Louisiana utility regulators call for a comprehensive review of utility SWEPCO’ system because of ongoing power outages, especially during hurricane season and extreme heat. (KTAL)

CLIMATE: An analysis of death certificates finds that 2023 was a record year for heat-related deaths and illnesses, with Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas among the hotspots where rates surged. (Associated Press)

UTILITIES:

Hotter summers, inefficient construction, and political influence by utility companies are all contributing to higher energy costs in the Gulf South region. (Gulf States Newsroom)
A Republican pollster is “taken aback” by a recent poll finding that likely Florida voters in both parties worry about the state’s heavy reliance on natural gas for electricity. (Tampa Bay Times)

COAL: Clean energy advocates are finding success in Louisiana and elsewhere arguing that coal is more costly than renewables and that ratepayers shouldn’t have to pay for uneconomical power plants. (New York Times)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

A planned Toyota EV battery manufacturing “megasite,” spurred by the federal Inflation Reduction Act, is driving an economic transformation in a rural North Carolina community. (Inside Climate News)
Daytona Beach, Florida, is in talks with companies to provide a free, app-based shuttle service using electric vehicles. (Daytona Times)
School districts in Georgia and Virginia are among those receiving millions of dollars in federal funding for electric school buses. (Macon Telegraph, Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star)

EMISSIONS: Savannah, Georgia, has seen its electricity-related greenhouse gas emissions decline over the last two decades even as its population grew, but transportation emissions are rising. (Savannah Now)

OIL & GAS:

Arkansas and the federal government sue ExxonMobil over a 2013 pipeline failure that spilled tens of thousands of gallons of heavy crude into a residential neighborhood over the course of 12 hours. (Arkansas Times)
A company will host a public meeting tomorrow for its plans to build a natural gas storage facility and pipelines in southwest Louisiana. (KPLC)
The developer of a proposed liquified natural gas export terminal in Texas asks federal regulators for more time to complete the project, citing its prolonged legal fight with the Sierra Club. (E&E News, subscription)

SOLAR:

The CEO of a solar company pitching free solar panels to New Orleans schools faces fraud and theft accusations in states where he has previously done business. (NOLA.com)
More than 100 residents gathered in a Virginia high school gym last week to learn about a proposed solar farm that’s expected to generate $20 million in tax revenue. (Bristol Herald Courier)

STORAGE: Lynchburg, Virginia’s city council approves siting agreements for two major battery energy storage systems that include money for the fire department to buy training and equipment. (News & Advance)

POLICY: A Virginia Department of Energy official will serve as executive director of a newly revived state commission tasked with studying energy-related legislative proposals. (Virginia Mercury)

COMMENTARY: North Carolinians would pay the cost of Duke Energy’s proposed natural gas plant build-out through heightened utility bills and worsened health, air and water, an advocacy group writes. (Appalachian Voices)

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Heat deaths, power outages getting worse is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.