OIL & GAS: Employees at the largest U.S. oil companies have lost around $5 billion in retirement savings due to outsized bets on their own slumping stock, an analysis finds. (Reuters)
ALSO:
• The Trump administration’s effort to bail out oil and gas producers will be a political boondoggle, legal and industry experts say. (HuffPost)
• The New York City comptroller joins critics of a utility’s plan to increase natural gas capacity to meet the city’s energy needs. (New York Daily News)
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CONGRESS: A Senate committee will hold a hearing on a major sticking point in the bipartisan federal energy bill: restrictions on heat-trapping hydrofluorocarbons. (The Hill)
EFFICIENCY: A Virginia church wants to finance upgrades to its 1960s-era HVAC system as part of the state’s first commercial property-assessed clean energy project. (Energy News Network)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Massachusetts tech firms are seeing economic opportunities in the state’s push to electrify transportation. (WGBH)
• Tesla is reportedly considering Nashville for the location of a new electric truck manufacturing plant. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
STORAGE: The country’s second-largest rooftop solar installer tells investors that it’s getting serious about energy storage. (Greentech Media)
COAL:
• Nearly $640 billion of investments in coal power is at risk worldwide because it is cheaper to get electricity from renewables, a report says. (Reuters)
• Attorneys representing 1,700 former Blackjewel employees in Wyoming in a class-action lawsuit reached a settlement yesterday with the bankrupt coal operator. (K2 Radio)
RENEWABLES: Vermont utilities raise concerns about a bill requiring them to purchase local renewable energy, saying it could lead to rate increases. (Vermont Public Radio)
GRID:
• Grid operator MISO expects 4,250 MW of wind and 730 MW of natural gas generation to come online in its territory by mid-summer. (S&P Global)
• NextEra is challenging a Texas law allowing incumbent utilities first dibs on building new high-voltage power lines. (E&E News, subscription)
PIPELINES: The Keystone XL pipeline’s developer starts preliminary work along the proposed route as opponents await a court ruling on a request to block any work. (Associated Press)
CLIMATE: A policy expert says New Mexico’s goal to transition to carbon-free electricity by 2045 could be at risk, as any new natural gas assets could be “stranded” as companies divest from natural gas in favor of renewable energy. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
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BIOFUELS: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Sen. Chuck Grassley urge the Trump administration not to appeal a federal court ruling that sided with ethanol producers over waivers given to small refiners. (Radio Iowa, E&E News, subscription)
OVERSIGHT: The governors of Minnesota and Wisconsin each appoint a clean energy supporter to state regulatory boards. (Rochester Post Bulletin, Wisconsin State Journal)