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)

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Ken Paulman

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.