ELECTRIC VEHICLES: As automakers unveil new electric cars, they’re starting to acknowledge that EVs have multiple advantages over their gasoline counterparts. (E&E News)
CLIMATE:
• A report from three state agencies on California’s recent blackouts finds energy planners have failed to account for climate change, leaving the grid vulnerable to extreme heat waves. (Los Angeles Times)
• JPMorgan says it will establish climate targets to be met by 2030 for industries that it finances. (Bloomberg)
***SPONSORED LINK: Tigercomm is hosting a Cleantech Editors Roundtable on Thursday, Oct. 8 from 1-2 p.m. ET Tune in as editors of major clean economy news sites discuss sector trends and developments. Register here.***
OVERSIGHT:
• A Government Accountability Office report finds the Interior Department failed to determine need before issuing $4.5 million in royalty cuts to oil producers as pandemic relief. (E&E News)
• The Trump administration counters a judge’s order that William Perry Pendley served illegally as head of the Bureau of Land management by insisting he performed “no relevant acts” as director. (E&E News)
POWER PLANTS:
• The Minnesota Supreme Court hears arguments over whether regulators must pursue a lengthy environmental review for a planned natural gas plant in Wisconsin that would provide power to a northern Minnesota utility. (Star Tribune)
• A new report says natural gas-fired power plants planned in four states in PJM could become uneconomic before their useful lives end due to changing market conditions. (E&E News, subscription)
PIPELINES:
• Local officials are still seeking details on a required emergency response plan for a recently completed Massachusetts compressor station. (Patriot Ledger)
• Pennsylvania residents near the site of a pipeline explosion two years ago worry about a recurrence as construction resumes. (The Times)
SOLAR:
• Ameren says it will close its net metering program after claiming to have reached a capacity limit, rejecting an order from Illinois regulators last week calling for an audit of the utility’s program. (Utility Dive)
• A Florida county board denies a zoning exemption for a 650-acre solar project in a predominantly Black community after some residents said the proposal constituted environmental racism and would hurt property values. (WUFT)
STORAGE: A battery storage system deployed by Ameren has reduced the number and duration of outages in a small, “geographically challenging” southern Illinois town. (Energy News Network)
TECHNOLOGY: A new report says California could develop a lithium industry in the Salton Sea area that produces a third of the world’s supply. (Utility Dive)
***SPONSORED LINK: MnSEIA’s 7th annual Gateway to Solar conference is next week! Join us Oct. 12-13 for a SEIA State Chapter Roundtable, keynotes such as Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minnesota State Legislators, D&I training for energy professionals, and much more.***
UTILITIES: After intense lobbying, the Memphis City Council denies a key contract with a consultant that would have helped the city’s municipal utility study alternatives to buying power from the Tennessee Valley Authority. (Commercial Appeal)
COMMENTARY: As incumbents beat the same old drum, several Appalachian candidates are campaigning on the promise of clean energy jobs, a columnist writes. (Forbes)