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Blackout fears fuel move toward solar, storage
Melvin Hoagland and Melissa Lin lost power at their Sonoma, Calif., home for more than a week after a wildfire tore across the region in 2017. Now, their utility is warning it may shut off electricity sporadically to prevent more catastrophic blazes. So Hoagland, 63, and Lin, 57, added solar and battery storage to their wine country home. [ read more … ]
Policy & Politics
Glick stakes out role as consumer advocate
Commissioner Richard Glick is holding steadfast to his interpretation of the core mission of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission — to ensure that electricity rates paid by consumers are fair. In a lengthy dissent late Monday, Glick took issue with his colleagues’ approval without a hearing of a change in an arcane aspect of the PJM Interconnection LLC’s capacity market. [ read more … ]
Heat pumps gain traction as renewables rise
A cluster of new studies from states, electric utilities and environmental groups suggest that as more electricity from solar and wind power is introduced on the nation’s electric grids, a wider use of electric heat pumps will help the United States reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to near zero by 2050. The latest study, by a California research firm for three of the state’s major utilities, describes heat pumps for home heating and cooling as “the low hanging fruit when it comes to saving customers money and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.” [ read more … ]
Will Warren’s plan push climate to the forefront?
Elizabeth Warren’s pledge to stop new fossil fuel leases offshore and on federal land via an executive order is raising the bar for climate change policy in the presidential campaign and putting new pressure on the rest of the Democratic field to try to match her ambition. The Massachusetts senator rolled out her public lands plan Monday, becoming the first 2020 presidential hopeful to state a climate change policy that goes beyond the Green New Deal proposal that most of the rest of the field had either fully or partially endorsed. [ read more … ]
Germany flips switch on Baltic Sea’s biggest wind park
Germany has officially switched on the biggest offshore wind park in the Baltic Sea, which will supply some 400,000 households with electricity. The Arkona facility about 22 miles northeast of Germany’s Baltic island of Ruegen went online yesterday. It is operated by German utility company E.ON SE and Norwegian energy giant Equinor ASA. [ read more … ]
Toyota to sell first hybrid car made in Brazil
Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp said on Wednesday it will begin building a new version of the Corolla sedan in Brazil that will run on electricity, ethanol and gas, which it says will be the first vehicle of its kind in the world. Brazil, which is South America’s largest auto producer, has largely resisted the shift toward electric and hybrid vehicle production that has swept through more developed markets. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.