‘The Coal Industry Is Back,’ Trump Proclaimed. It Wasn’t.

For decades, waves of electricity poured from this behemoth of a power plant on the high desert plateau of the Navajo reservation in northern Arizona, lighting up hundreds of thousands of homes from Phoenix to Las Vegas as it burned 240 rail cars’ worth of coal a day. But as the day shift ended here at the Navajo Generating Station one evening early this year, all but a half-dozen spaces in the employee parking lot — a stretch of asphalt larger than a football field — were empty. [ read more … ]

Americans Poised to Set New Rooftop Solar Record Despite Virus

America’s residential-solar industry is on the verge of a record-breaking year after overcoming a bruising due to the coronavirus pandemic. BloombergNEF now forecasts 3 gigawatts of residential-solar installations in 2020, topping the previous high of 2.8 gigawatts set last year, according to a report released Monday. BNEF expects another 3.6 gigawatts to be installed in 2021. And it’s not just residential solar seeing growth — onshore wind and utility-scale solar are also having a robust year. [ read more … ]

Johnson Backs Green Investment as Cure for U.K. Covid Slump

Boris Johnson pledged to boosting U.K. offshore wind power as part of his delayed plan for a “green industrial revolution” as he seeks to get his stalled domestic agenda back on course.
In a speech aimed at regaining a grip of the political agenda after months of negative headlines over his handling of the pandemic, the prime minister said renewable energy can help drive Britain’s economic regeneration. He announced 160 million pounds ($208 million) for infrastructure at ports to support companies building turbines off the British coast. [ read more … ]

Exxon barrels ahead with fossil fuels as rivals go greener

The drilling binge promised to be lucrative. Exxon’s financial presentations estimated earnings would jump 35% with a modest oil price of $40 a barrel. That figure would soar 135% if oil hit $60. Unmentioned was what Exxon’s drilling boom meant for the planet. But internal documents obtained by Bloomberg News show the company had a precise estimate of the climate costs. The oil giant forecast that annual emissions from its operations would increase from 122 million metric tons in 2017 to 143 million metric tons in 2025, according to Bloomberg. [ read more … ]

Clean energy cities, ranked

New York City ranked the No. 1 U.S. city in efforts to improve energy efficiency and scale up renewable energy in a scorecard of 100 U.S. cities released today by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy . The scorecard looked at the cities’ efforts to achieve a clean energy future, with Boston and Seattle tied at No. 2, followed by Minneapolis and San Francisco (tied at No. 4) and Washington, D.C., Denver, Los Angeles, San José, and Oakland. [ read more … ]

Political group that got loan from utility co-op scrutinized

A political action committee that supports candidates for the Nebraska Public Power District’s board is being scrutinized because it received a startup loan from a group backed by several rural public power districts.

Several ratepayers and two NPPD board members have questioned whether the $7,500 loan the Nebraskans for Reliable and Affordable Electricity group received was proper. The Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission is looking into the matter after several people filed complaints about the loan from the Nebraska Electric Generation and Transmission Cooperative Inc. that is funded by several public utilities, the Lincoln Journal Star reported. [ read more … ]

Automakers’ risky bet: EVs are better than gas cars

Volkswagen has described its upcoming ID.4 SUV as a combination of its best cars. GM suggests future electric vehicles will be “more responsive than its internal combustion equivalents.” Ford says its electric F-150 will transform tailgating parties, while being cheaper to own, and faster and more powerful than any truck it’s ever made. These claims may not surprise EV owners: The vehicles are quiet, require little maintenance, are cheaper in most places to fuel and can rocket off the line from a standstill. But until now, the major automakers have been loath to say so. Embracing EVs is a treacherous pivot in a highly competitive market where traditional automakers must compete against one another while also fending off new electric vehicle makers like Tesla Inc. and Rivian Automotive Inc. — companies that aren’t burdened with a legacy to protect. [ read more … ]

Biden is pressed to support a National Climate Council

A Biden White House could borrow a 12-year-old idea from Obama climate consigliere John Podesta to create a high-level council for organizing global warming policy across the federal government. Podesta wrote a memo in 2008 that called for a National Climate Council when he headed the Obama-Biden transition team. The idea was never adopted, though Podesta went on to helm Obama’s second-term climate effort in a role that served roughly the same purpose of providing White House oversight to domestic and international climate efforts. [ read more … ]

Biden sets his first climate ad in Trump country

The Biden campaign is targeting Trump country with its first climate-centric TV ad. The 60-second spot features a family of Michigan cherry farmers describing how rising temperatures have turned their fruits tart. The spot doesn’t mention President Trump or any of Joe Biden’s plans. [ read more … ]

PJM says Exelon bribery involvement didn’t break its rules

Leaders of the nation’s largest grid operator, PJM Interconnection, have determined that Exelon Corp.’s involvement in a utility bribery scandal that unfolded in Illinois did not violate PJM rules. “Based upon the known facts as set forth in [PJM’s Operating Agreement], we cannot determine that either Commonwealth Edison or Exelon Corporation (or any of its affiliates) violated the PJM Operating Agreement,” Ake Almgren, chair of PJM’s board of managers, wrote in an Oct. 2 letter. [ read more … ]