View this email in a web browser.
Perry mum on plans to save ‘indispensable’ coal
Energy Secretary Rick Perry touted “clean coal” technology yesterday but refuted reports his department is trying to bail out the struggling industry. Perry joked he was the first secretary in a “pretty good spell” to pay a visit to the World Coal Association, which met today at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to discuss how to build more efficient, lower emission plants with technologies like carbon capture and sequestration [ read more … ]
Moniz unveils report showing surge in energy efficiency jobs
The American energy sector added 133,000 jobs last year, with more than half of them in energy efficiency, according to study released today by former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and the National Association of State Energy Officials. The solar industry saw its first job loss since data were collected in 2010, with employment falling to 350,000 individuals. Moniz’s think tank, the Energy Futures Initiative, and NASEO produced the “U.S. Energy and Employment Report” after the Trump administration scrapped plans to have the Energy Department lead the analysis [ read more … ]
Policy & Politics
Electricity prices plunge with more renewables, study says
Wide adoption of solar and wind power, such as is coming to California and New York, could dramatically lower the wholesale price of electricity and cause “profound changes” in electric power systems, according to a new federal study. Shifts could be seismic. The midday peaks that utilities are used to could move hours later in the day. Extremely cheap electricity could become common while also being difficult to predict. Nuclear and fossil fuel power plants would struggle to compete. [ read more … ]
Solar-storage combo gains foothold in Southeast
An outsider looking for a way to uniformly expand solar across the greater Southeast is going to have some trouble. Hardly any two states treat solar policy the same. In a region dominated by regulated utility monopolies, some take a competitive bidding approach, others use a standard offer tariff while some stay within the strict confines of a resource planning model. [ read more … ]
Competitive solar-plus-storage moves closer to reality
Solar-plus-storage projects are becoming more competitive with other, more traditional resources, as more projects are cropping up. Earlier this month, EnSync Energy Systems signed a power purchase agreement for a solar-plus-storage project at a housing complex in Oahu, Hawaii. [ read more … ]
In Michigan rooftop solar debate kindles unlikely political alliance
An unusual alliance of interests from both ends of the political spectrum is coming together around a bill package in the Michigan House that aims to make it easier to invest in rooftop solar. This is the third straight year the five-bill “energy freedom” package has been introduced in Michigan. But yesterday was the first time the legislation got an airing in committee, a debate sparked by a recent order by regulators to end net metering. [ read more … ]
Pruitt quietly advances planned regulatory overhaul
While EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s “secret science” plan has garnered a good deal of publicity and criticism, another proposal that could transform the agency’s rulemaking process has largely flown under the radar. EPA last month quietly submitted a proposal titled “Increasing Consistency and Transparency in Considering Costs and Benefits in the Rulemaking Process” to the White House Office of Management and Budget. [ read more … ]
Electric-Car Era Threatens Firefighters With New Road Risks
Firefighters doused the blazing Tesla Inc. Model X’s battery pack, and then company engineers removed about one-quarter of its power cells before the vehicle was deemed safe to tow off of a California freeway. That didn’t prevent the powerful and highly flammable lithium-ion battery cells from reigniting. The car caught fire twice more within 24 hours of the March 23 fatal crash, and again six days later, according to a safety bulletin from the fire department in Mountain View. [ read more … ]
Dems call for Pruitt to disclose legal fund donors
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s legal defense fund could prove to be another target for his critics. At a Senate hearing this morning, Pruitt confirmed he had set up a fund as he deals with multiple investigations into allegations of excessive spending and misuse of his Cabinet-level office as EPA chief. Democrats who have pushed for his resignation or firing are now discussing Pruitt’s fund and how its donors must be disclosed [ read more … ]
Pruitt Says His Legal Fund Won’t Take Cash From Those With EPA Business
A private fund to help Scott Pruitt pay legal bills amid investigations of his taxpayer-funded travel, unorthodox condo rental and security protection will not accept donations from people with business before the EPA. Pruitt made the pledge during a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing Wednesday as he faced withering criticism for his leadership of the Environmental Protection Agency — and his new strategy for dealing with the legal fallout from a series of controversies. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.