PIPELINES: The Colonial Pipeline restarts five days after a cyberattack and subsequent shutdown led to gasoline panic buying across the East Coast. The company says it will take “several days” for supply to return to normal. (Politico, CBS News)
ALSO:
• Federal lawmakers introduce a swath of cybersecurity and pipeline bills and President Biden issues a cybersecurity-boosting executive order in response to Colonial Pipeline hack. (E&E News, subscription)
• “An eighth-grader could have hacked into that system.” An audit three years ago found “glaring deficiencies” in the Colonial Pipeline’s security practices. (Associated Press)
• Enbridge and U.S. and Canadian business groups argue shutting down the Line 5 pipeline would trigger energy emergencies in both countries similar to what has played out during the Colonial pipeline’s closure from a cyberattack. (Crain’s Detroit Business, subscription)
• Wednesday marked the first of several days of protests planned near the Straits of Mackinac over Enbridge’s continued operation of Line 5. (Michigan Radio)
***SPONSORED LINK: Announcing the 3rd DoD Energy & Power Summit, July 14-15 in National Harbor, MD. Join us to engage in discussions on the technologies and policies necessary to support greater energy reliability, resiliency, and safety. Advanced registration ends this week! Click Here to Register.***
OIL & GAS:
• A Virgin Islands oil refinery will halt operations after raining oil on the surrounding community for a second time this year. (Washington Post)
• A study finds people living in Pennsylvania counties with fracking have higher rates of hospitalizations and deaths due to heart attacks than demographically similar counties in New York. (Environmental Health News)
• Louisiana lawmakers advance a bill to incentivize oil production from abandoned wells by exempting that production from the state severance tax. (NOLA.com)
OFFSHORE WIND: Vineyard Wind developers expect opponents, notably fishing industry groups, to file legal challenges now that the project has gained federal approval. (E&E News, subscription)
CLIMATE: The EPA releases a report and relaunches a website detailing dozens of ways climate change is already impacting the U.S., including through increased heat waves, bigger wildfires and an earlier start to pollen season. (New York Times)
SOLAR: Kansas is among several places where solar companies say utilities are challenging to the industry by attempting to impose new fees on rooftop solar customers. (The Guardian)
BIOGAS: California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard adopted in 2009 is helping to drive renewable natural gas projects in the Midwest, primarily based on the strength of the dairy industry. (Energy News Network)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Elon Musk says Tesla will no longer accept bitcoin payments for vehicles, citing the “rapidly increasing” use of fossil fuels to mine and transfer the cryptocurrency. (Axios)
• A research firm says the U.S. isn’t doing enough to incentivize electric vehicle adoption, and suggests extending a tax credit for electric vehicle sales and issuing grants to build chargers nationwide. (E&E News, subscription)
TRANSITION: Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich will introduce a bill today that aims to create a “predictable glide path” for states to maintain public services as they transition away from fossil fuels. (E&E News, subscription)
***SPONSORED LINK: The 16th annual Advancing Renewables Conference will be held May 18-19 noon-5 p.m. At this virtual event, industry leaders will address current topics in energy efficiency and renewable energy. Join us at the forefront of renewable energy! http://advancingrenewables.com/ ***
GRID: California’s grid operator is “cautiously optimistic” the state can avoid rolling blackouts this summer, but warns extreme heat could pose challenges as traders bet on supply shortages in other Western states. (S&P Global, Bloomberg)
COMMENTARY: Natural gas faces an existential threat from renewables and aggressive decarbonization goals unless the industry shifts to adapt, writes an clean power researcher. (Bloomberg)