COAL: U.S. utilities plan to retire a record-setting 23 GW of coal-fired power plant capacity in 2028, on top of 51 GW expected to go offline before that year. (S&P Global)
ALSO: Duke Energy announces plans to close its remaining coal plants by 2035 and spend more than $100 billion to double its renewable capacity over the next decade. (E&E News)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• California regulators sue Tesla, alleging the electric vehicle maker discriminates against Black employees at its San Francisco factory. (Associated Press)
• Amendments to an electric vehicle charging station bill in Wisconsin have turned clean energy advocates against it while highlighting a broader debate over who will control and profit most from the transition to electric vehicles. (Energy News Network)
POLITICS:
• Sen. Joe Manchin says Congress should limit spending amid a surge of inflation, throwing another wrench in Build Back Better plans. (E&E News)
• States are redrawing Congressional maps to strongly benefit one party or the other, suggesting districts favoring Democrats could see contested primaries with climate as a main issue. (E&E News)
STORAGE: Oregon engineers are building an iron flow battery based on a 30-year-old design they say could store power more cheaply than a lithium battery. (Grist)
SOLAR:
• German researchers say they’ve found a way to reuse silicon from old solar panels, but an Arizona researcher says silicon is only a small piece of solar panel waste that needs to be addressed. (Inside Climate News)
• Nevada energy industry officials criticize the Biden administration’s extension of Trump-era solar panel tariffs, saying domestic supplies are insufficient to equip current projects. (Nevada Current)
WIND: Construction on the roughly $2 billion South Fork wind farm off Rhode Island’s coast will begin after a ceremonial groundbreaking today. (Newsday)
GRID: Texans struggle with climate-induced trauma one year after a powerful winter storm nearly knocked out the power grid and resulted in hundreds of deaths. (Texas Observer)
NUCLEAR: The federal government’s nuclear energy regulator lacks the oversight it needs to keep defective and counterfeit parts out of power plants, its inspector general finds. (E&E News)
PIPELINES: Ongoing protests and a civil rights case against a North Brooklyn pipeline could signal a turning point in how the federal government considers and applies environmental justice principles, some observers say. (The Guardian)
ELECTRIFICATION: A group of Colorado natural gas companies, utilities and real estate groups use questionable claims to campaign against “forced electrification.” (DeSmog)