CLIMATE: The White House announces that 81 major U.S. companies – including McDonald’s, Cargill, IBM and others – have now committed to significant carbon reductions. (New York Times)
CANADA: How yesterday’s Canadian election could change the politics around Keystone XL in the U.S. and climate change more broadly. (Politico, Foreign Policy)
UTILITIES: As conservation and solar energy cut ratepayers’ usage, electric utilities turn to fees for fresh revenue, riling consumer advocates. (Wall Street Journal)
NUCLEAR: Closure of the Pilgrim nuclear plant could drive up carbon emissions in New England. (Associated Press)
COAL: A consultant warns divesting California’s largest pension fund from coal could cost between $4 billion and $8 billion. (Reuters)
DEMAND RESPONSE: Advocates are starting a pilot program in Chicago that seeks to bundle demand response and distributed energy resources to establish a clean-energy portfolio that is more valuable than its individual parts. (EnergyWire)
SOLAR:
• A Montana utility experiments with a battery-backed solar installation as a means to improve reliability in rural areas. (Montana Standard)
• A study warns large desert solar farms could have ecological consequences. (Climate Central)
• A California school district will be among the first in the nation to get most of its electricity from solar panels backed by battery storage – an arrangement one solar expert expects to become more common. (InsideClimate News)
WIND: Consumers-product giant Proctor & Gamble commits to run all of its North American plants on wind power. (New York Times)
POLLUTION: A new tactic being taken by green groups over what they say is the Obama administration’s weak ozone rule is that it’s not as strong as a similar Bush-era regulation. (Greenwire)
GRID: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear another case this term that hits on similar jurisdictional issues between states and FERC, this time over providing incentives for new generation. (Greenwire)
HYDRO: Supporters of expanding hydropower push for a faster federal permitting process. (The Hill)
FRACKING:
• Oklahoma regulators are taking further action to limit wastewater disposal wells after another rash of earthquakes. (The Oklahoman)
• North Dakota will end a program allowing farmers to sell their irrigation water for fracking. (Grand Forks Herald)
• A new study says abandoned oil and gas wells near existing fracking sites can act as a conduit for more methane releases that aren’t being measured. (Phys.org)
TRANSPORTATION: When gasoline prices are low, U.S. consumers buy more and at higher grades. (New York Times)
TECHNOLOGY: A California company unveils a system that helps air conditioners run more efficiently by using solar power to freeze water for use the following day. (San Diego Union-Tribune)