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U.S. Clean-Energy Tax Breaks Sought in Virus Stimulus Package
The clean-energy industry is trying to get billions of dollars in tax breaks for electric vehicles, wind and solar power, and battery storage into the massive coronavirus stimulus package being formulated in Congress. Renewable energy advocates are angling for an extension of the consumer tax credit for electric vehicles and other incentives for storage and renewable energy — most of which were left out of a year end tax deal. [ read more … ]
Wind Energy
Big Wins Expected for Offshore Wind Over Next Decade
The offshore-wind industry is poised for exponential growth in the United States over the next decade, with the potential to provide enough power to meet nearly double the nation’s current electricity use, according to a new report. Up to 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind could be developed along the East Coast, which may support up to 83,000 jobs and deliver $25 billion in annual economic output, the study by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) projected. [ read more … ]
FERC/PJM
PJM MOPR compliance plan allays renewable sector concerns of being shut out of capacity auctions
PJM’s 536-page filing was a “phenomenal” attempt to assuage stakeholder concerns, Managing Director and General Counsel at Advanced Energy Economy Jeff Dennis told Utility Dive, despite outlying flaws he and other clean energy stakeholders still see at the root of the FERC order. “The FERC order issued in December significantly expanded the application of the MOPR used in PJM’s capacity market,” the grid operator said in a statement. Since then, “PJM has heard from every stakeholder sector, conducting nine formal stakeholder meetings.” [ read more … ]
American Wind Energy Association Statement on PJM’s Response to FERC Capacity Market Directive
“PJM’s compliance filing is an important step towards renewable resources participating in the PJM capacity market. The filing appropriately recognizes the rapidly decreasing costs of developing large-scale renewable projects and gives developers the ability to prove the competitiveness of their projects. Enel Green Power appreciates PJM’s engagement with the renewable community and looks forward to continued active participation in PJM,” said Georgios Papadimitriou, Head of Enel Green Power North America and AWEA Board Member
[ read more … ]
Why Illinois May Need to Ditch PJM’s Capacity Market to Reach 100% Clean Energy
Since it was first introduced last year, Illinois’ Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA), the state’s proposed 100 percent renewable energy bill, has been built around an escape from grid operator PJM’s capacity market, the country’s largest. If the idea made sense last year, it makes even more sense today, according to the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, the group behind CEJA. Since then, PJM’s capacity market has shifted from constituting a potential roadblock to becoming a very real one when it comes to meeting the state’s clean energy goals. [ read more … ]
Climate
California is a climate leader. But here’s why it needs to move even faster
California is aiming to slash planet-warming emissions faster than ever over the next decade — and critics say state officials aren’t acting with nearly enough urgency. The Golden State reached its 2020 climate change goal four years early, bringing economy-wide emissions back down to 1990 levels without most Californians noticing that anything was different. But the state’s next target, a 40% reduction in climate pollution by 2030, will be a much bigger lift. [ read more … ]
The Post-Virus Economic Recovery Could Be a Green One
Unlike in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, when fossil fuel-heavy and otherwise polluting industries received a major share of the bailout money, today green investment options are plentiful. Renewable energy is cheaper than coal almost everywhere in the world, and increasingly competitive with gas. High-speed trains, electric vehicle chargers, and fiber-optic infrastructure should also be on governments’ minds. [ read more … ]
Study: global banks ‘failing miserably’ on climate crisis by funneling trillions into fossil fuels
The world’s largest investment banks have funnelled more than £2.2tn ($2.66tn) into fossil fuels since the Paris agreement, new figures show, prompting warnings they are failing to respond to the climate crisis. The US bank JP Morgan Chase, whose economists warned that the climate crisis threatens the survival of humanity last month, has been the largest financier of fossil fuels in the four years since the agreement, providing over £220bn of financial services to extract oil, gas and coal. [ read more … ]
Coronavirus slows developing nations’ plans to step up climate action in 2020
We are entering into unknown territory’ – coronavirus delays developing nations’ ability to design new climate plans before Cop26 summit in November in Glasgow. The coronavirus is threatening developing countries’ plans to step up climate action this year as meetings are being postponed and resources are needed to combat the pandemic. Five years after the Paris Agreement was adopted, governments are under pressure to submit tougher climate plans to the UN ahead of a critical climate summit in Glasgow, or Cop26, still scheduled for November.
[ read more … ]
Markets
Overloaded Storage Facilities Likely to Mean Even Lower Oil Prices
Storage facilities around the world are brimming with cheap oil and could run out of space within months, traders and analysts say, a predicament that could drive down crude prices to unprecedented single-digit dollar amounts. As the global response to the coronavirus pandemic saps oil consumption with factory closures and travel restrictions, the Saudi-Russian price war has caused crude prices to plummet by half to around $28 a barrel this month. [ read more … ]
North Dakota weighs plan to keep some Bakken crude off market
Faced with declining demand and potentially months of oil prices below most Bakken breakeven prices, the North Dakota Industrial Commission next week will consider new rules aimed at preventing operators from either bringing more unwanted crude onto the market or abandoning wells completely. In January, the number of inactive wells in North Dakota climbed to 2,607, a new record for the state and an increase of 687 wells, or nearly 36%, from December. In a year, North Dakota’s inactive well count has climbed by 1,090 wells, an increase of nearly 72%. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.