CLIMATE:
• Energy experts say PG&E’s bankruptcy filing is one of the first major financial casualties from climate change, and won’t be the last. (New York Times)
• Climate change legislation in Rhode Island has so far done little to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (ecoRI)
MICROGRIDS: As the threat of climate change-fueled wildfire continues to grow in the West, one San Francisco Bay-area clean energy developer is working with California fire stations to develop resilient microgrids. (Greentech Media)
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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Despite automaker promises to develop new electric vehicle models, only two are being unveiled at the Detroit auto show this week. (Associated Press)
• Maryland regulators authorize the state’s utilities to install a network of more than 5,000 electric vehicle charging stations. (Baltimore Sun)
• Chattanooga, Tennessee will be home to a Volkswagen electric vehicle manufacturing plant, with the first vehicle rolling out in 2022. (WTVC)
OIL & GAS:
• The Trump administration is expected to relax rules for oil companies put in place after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. (The Guardian)
• Colorado’s Supreme Court rules that state regulators don’t have to prioritize public health and the environment over other considerations when issuing drilling permits. (The Colorado Independent)
• The West Virginia Supreme Court will hear a case involving landowners who want relief from the constant noise of living near oil and gas operations. (WVPB)
WIND:
• The federal government postpones three more public meetings to discuss a wind farm off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard because of the shutdown. (reNEWS)
• Rhode Island fishermen accuse the state of excluding them from talks about receiving compensation from Vineyard Wind’s developers for lost access to fishing grounds. (Providence Journal)
• A report by Maine’s wind energy advisory commission finds no evidence that wind turbines significantly harm property values or tourism. (Associated Press)
TRANSMISSION:
• The Environmental Law and Policy Center assembles a team of experts to bolster its case against a proposed transmission line through southwestern Wisconsin. (Wisconsin State Journal)
• A Nebraska lawmaker introduces legislation to block a proposed transmission project through the state’s scenic Sandhills region. (NET)
NUCLEAR:
• President Trump promised a “complete review” of the country’s nuclear energy sector, but there have been no public updates or announcements since then as reactors across the country continue to close. (E&E News, subscription)
• The former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says in a new book that U.S. nuclear power is “more hazardous than it is worth.” (WISN)
• A New Jersey nuclear plant faces the difficult task of decommissioning as the community adjusts to a loss in tax revenue. (New Jersey Monthly)
• South Carolina regulators rule that utility SCE&G misled them about a failing nuclear project in order to raise rates. (Charlotte Observer)
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WASHINGTON:
• Some hope the Trump administration will appoint a person with experience as a state regulator for a pending FERC vacancy. (E&E News, subscription)
• President Trump’s attorney general pick was accused of pressuring the EPA to insert a massive loophole into the Clean Air Act in 1992. (E&E News)
RESEARCH: The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $1.3 million to the University of Hawaii to further its research into converting ocean waves to energy. (University of Hawaii News)