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Gas prices may surge again ahead of midterm election
The prospect of a new gas price jolt coinciding with midterm elections has the White House and many Democrats on edge.The prospect of a new gas price jolt coinciding with midterm elections has the White House and many Democrats on edge. The price concerns are tied to the timeline for stricter sanctions on Russia that will further choke the global oil supply. J.P. Morgan has warned that in a worst-case scenario — in which Russia retaliates by shutting down its supply altogether — the price of oil could jump to $380 per barrel, more than triple what it is today. The price concerns are tied to the timeline for stricter sanctions on Russia that will further choke the global oil supply. J.P. Morgan has warned that in a worst-case scenario — in which Russia retaliates by shutting down its supply altogether — the price of oil could jump to $380 per barrel, more than triple what it is today. [ read more … ]
Wind Energy
House Passes Crew Mandate Called ‘Gut Punch’ to Offshore Wind
The House passed legislation Thursday that offshore wind developers say poses an existential threat to the nascent industry in the US. The measure, folded into a defense authorization bill, would impose new nationality requirements for crew members working on offshore energy projects, from oil rigs to wind installations. Crews would have to be citizens or permanent residents of the US, or be from the same country under which their vessel is flagged. [ read more … ]
Solar Energy
California went big on rooftop solar. It created an environmental danger in the process
Beginning in 2006, the state, focused on how to incentivize people to take up solar power, showered subsidies on homeowners who installed photovoltaic panels but had no comprehensive plan to dispose of them. Now, panels purchased under those programs are nearing the end of their typical 25-year life cycle. Many are already winding up in landfills, where components that contain toxic heavy metals such as selenium and cadmium can contaminate groundwater.
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Biden administration unveils new funding for domestic solar manufacturing
The Biden administration on Thursday said it would pour $56 million into programs aimed at spurring domestic manufacturing of solar energy products as the U.S. seeks to move its clean energy sector away from a dependence on Chinese-made goods. The new funding from the Department of Energy will support technologies that are alternatives to the silicon-based products that dominate the market and are primarily made in Asia.
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Transmission
LM approves construction of Ariz.-to-Calif. power line
The Bureau of Land Management has authorized construction to begin on a 125-mile-long transmission line project across Arizona and Southern California that is projected to help carry electricity generated from renewable energy sources to customers in both states. The Obama-era 500-kilovolt Ten West Link transmission line has been in the works since early 2016, and a record of decision approving the project was issued by former President Donald Trump’s BLM in November 2019. [ read more … ]
Congress
Fury from Dems, greens after Manchin blocks climate bill
Environmentalists and progressives raged last night after West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin killed the clean energy provisions of Democrats’ reconciliation bill, snuffing out nearly a year of negotiations and the first major attempt to legislate on climate change in over a decade. Manchin told Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) yesterday he “unequivocally” wouldn’t support a reconciliation measure that includes climate and clean energy provisions, according to a Democrat briefed on the conversation. [ read more … ]
Biden: ‘I will not back down’ on climate
President Joe Biden is prepared to use his presidential powers to tackle climate change if Congress won’t, he said today. “If the Senate will not move to tackle the climate crisis and strengthen our domestic clean energy industry, I will take strong executive action to meet this moment,” Biden said this afternoon in a statement.
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Biden Vowing ‘Strong’ Climate Action Despite Dual Setbacks
Declaring a climate emergency would allow Biden to redirect spending to accelerate renewable energy such as wind and solar and speed the nation’s transition away from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. Climate advocates, including some of Manchin’s Democratic colleagues in the Senate, said Manchin’s announcement that he cannot back the climate provisions in the Senate bill — at least for now — frees Biden of the obligation to cater to a powerful, coal-state senator eager to protect his energy-producing home state. Manchin’s vote is decisive in the evenly divided Senate, where Republicans unanimously oppose climate action. [ read more … ]
Biden Pushed to Seize ‘Climate Emergency’ Powers After Manchin Blocks Support
Pressure is building on President Joe Biden to deploy executive powers in the uphill fight against climate change after Senator Joe Manchin halted landmark legislation long sought by environmentalists. Manchin’s decision to hold back support for climate and tax provisions in a broad spending bill leaves Biden with fewer options to rein in greenhouse gas emissions. And it will force the president to rely more heavily on federal regulation—though new rules will face intense legal scrutiny. “With legislative climate options now closed, it’s now time for executive Beast Mode,” said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, in a tweet late Thursday. [ read more … ]
Congress faces climate roadblock after Supreme Court ruling
The Supreme Court’s landmark climate decision is expected to reverberate far beyond the walls of EPA — and possibly all the way up to Capitol Hill. A number of legal observers say the justices’ 6-3 ruling last month in West Virginia v. EPA — which provides a first look at how the court’s new conservative supermajority will handle climate cases — clips agency authority and, perhaps more significantly, constrains how lawmakers can address planet-warming emissions. [ read more … ]
States
‘Things Are Going to Break’: Texas Power Plants Are Running Nonstop
Twice in the past week, officials have called on Texans to limit electricity use during scorching afternoons as demand inched perilously close to overwhelming supply. Now, there are growing concerns over how long power plants can maintain the grueling pace as they run nonstop, according to Michele Richmond, executive director of Texas Competitive Power Advocates, a generator industry group. “Things are going to break,” she said. “We have an aging fleet that’s being run harder than it’s ever been run.” [ read more … ]
Heat Wave-Strained Grid Needs Regional Power Sharing, Feds Say
The heat wave straining the power grid in much of the country has led US energy officials and lawmakers to press for more transfers of electricity among regions that largely operate their own sections of the grid. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission plans to meet with state utility commissioners next week in California to discuss inter-regional transmission planning—a key hurdle to keeping power reliable and affordable, energy experts say.
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Pennsylvania’s legal wrangling over RGGI creating PJM market uncertainty
Legal actions impacting the integration of Pennsylvania into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative have affected the ability of fossil-fueled power generators to include RGGI costs in their cost‐based offers in the PJM Interconnection energy market, creating uncertainty within the industry, PJM’s market monitor said July 14. Pennsylvania joined RGGI July 1 which resulted in power generators being able to include RGGI costs in their cost‐based offers as per their approved fuel cost policies, Monitoring Analytics, PJM’s independent market monitor, said in a July 13 note to PJM market participants. [ read more … ]
Coal, solar and EVs: A pitfall for electric utilities?
For many companies, the ongoing shift to clean energy presents a massive financial opportunity. But for U.S. electric utilities, the transition may upend a longstanding business model. That’s because utilities have traditionally made money by investing in new assets, from power plants to power lines. Consumers pay for those investments through monthly bills and expect reliable service in return. Utilities, with the approval of regulators, lock in rates of return and paths to hitting financial targets for Wall Street. [ read more … ]
Natural Gas
Washington set to be 2nd East Coast city with gas ban
Washington, D.C., is expected to become the second East Coast city to ban fossil fuel boilers and water heaters in most new buildings, following the unanimous approval of two bills by the City Council this week that are supported by the mayor. When the bills are enacted, the nation’s capital would join New York City in instituting a ban on most fossil fuel heat — an idea that has also spread to several dozen West Coast municipalities and, in a more limited way, across Washington state. [ read more … ]
EPA
Here are 3 ways the EPA can still regulate climate pollution
Late last month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-awaited ruling on West Virginia v. EPA, a case in which the government’s ability to regulate carbon emissions from power plants was in dispute. Environmentalists expected the court’s conservative majority to deal a deadly blow to the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate climate pollution from the power sector, which accounts for roughly a quarter of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, the Supreme Court issued a narrow but consequential opinion that only ruled out one specific mechanism for slashing carbon emissions: so-called generation shifting. [ read more … ]
EPA ‘forever chemical’ health advisory spurs lawsuit
EPA’s dramatic new health advisory for a contentious “forever chemical” is facing a lawsuit from its manufacturer over claims that the agency overstepped its authority in one of its most significant actions around the compounds to date. Chemours Co. sued EPA yesterday mere weeks after the agency declared that the compound GenX’s severe health risks mean the chemical is only safe in drinking water at extremely low levels. That advisory carries no legal weight, and any forthcoming regulations would likely be at a higher threshold. But the action enraged the PFAS manufacturer, which argued EPA issued a health advisory that is “scientifically unsound.” [ read more … ]
Markets
Big Oil’s Influx of Cash Opens Door to Clean-Energy Deals
Internal deliberations like these have happened before without resulting in any deals, largely because the potential targets have been so expensive. But the surge in oil majors’ profits in the past six months could mean a takeover is now within reach, the people said, asking not to be named because the information is private. These companies have plenty of cash now and much stronger balance sheets,” said Christyan Malek, global head of energy strategy at JPMorgan Chase & Co. “There is a build versus buy discussion happening within the core of Big Oil and their renewables businesses right now.” [ read more … ]
EVs
Inside Clean Energy: Some EVs Now Pay for Themselves in a Year
But even if gas goes back to $3.10 per gallon and people hunger for big SUVs, they may not be able to find one. Carmakers such as Cadillac, Chevrolet and Volvo have pledged to phase out gas-powered cars and trucks by 2035. And the introduction of trucks like the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning and GMC Hummer EV will create new fully electric options for buyers who aren’t ready to downsize. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.