BIOFUELS: The EPA approves year-round sales of gasoline with higher blends of ethanol, drawing praise from corn growers and criticism from the oil industry and environmental groups. (New York Times)
ALSO: Gasoline with higher blends of ethanol produces more nitrogen oxide, which leads to more ozone, a lung-damaging gas in smog. (Los Angeles Times)
***SPONSORED LINK: Join GTM at the Grid Edge Innovation Summit, June 18-19 in San Diego, for two days of data-intensive presentations from our leading grid edge research practice and industry-led discussions on how data analytics, AI, DERMs and other smart grid innovations are enhancing grid reliability, optimization and planning. Register today!***
GRID:
• Grid operator PJM will study how to integrate varying state climate policies to keep costs and emissions from “leaking” into neighboring states. (Energy News Network)
• The U.S. Senate energy committee hears testimony this week on grid-scale energy storage, which could get a boost from a series of bills. (E&E News)
• The Tennessee Valley Authority expects to reduce carbon emissions 70% from 2005 levels by the end of the next decade, its CEO says. (Reuters)
SOLAR:
• Utilities across the U.S. are proposing fees for customers who generate their own solar power, which critics say overcharge customers. (NPR)
• New York regulators are considering a monthly fee on residential solar customers to support clean energy and efficiency programs. (Bloomberg)
• A Nebraska entrepreneur receives a $200,000 federal grant to devise a solar array that doubles as a shade structure in a cattle feedlot. (Energy News Network)
UTILITIES:
• Major retailers including Walmart, Costco, and Target push Virginia regulators to let them buy power from sources other than Dominion Energy. (Washington Post)
• Hawaii’s largest utility takes steps to swap out coal with renewables at a power plant, part of a broader effort to phase out fossil fuels. (Honolulu Civil Beat)
WIND: Massachusetts said it will double its commitments to offshore wind and pursue development of up to another 1,600 MW. (CommonWealth Magazine)
OIL & GAS: A Texas-based power producer drops plans to build a gas plant in Southern California, the latest in a string of similar cancellations. (Greentech Media)
PIPELINES:
• Michigan’s governor plans to meet with Enbridge this week over the future of the company’s Line 5 oil pipeline. (Detroit News)
• The Iowa Supreme Court denies an appeal by landowners who challenged the use of eminent domain for the Dakota Access pipeline. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
• A Texas district judge will soon decide the fate of the eminent domain lawsuit involving Kinder Morgan pipeline developers. (Houston Chronicle)
TRANSMISSION:
• A growing number of Maine towns oppose the proposed Clean Energy Connect power line, and several will hold town meetings this month to consider votes against it. (Sun Journal)
• New York utilities are increasingly seeking ways to improve service that do not require building new transmission infrastructure. (Utility Dive)
COAL: The Navajo Nation is bracing for the economic fallout from the approaching shutdown of the largest coal plant in the West. (Deseret News)
***SPONSORED LINK: Need some relevant CLE credit? Sign up for Renew Missouri’s End-of-Year Energy Law CLE, June 14 in Jefferson City. You’ll earn 8 hours of credit with 2 hours of ethics in MO and KS. (CA is pending.) For more information or to sign up click here.***
CLIMATE:
• A lawsuit over climate change led by a group of young activists faces a critical hearing in Oregon on Tuesday that could determine whether the case goes to trial. (The Oregonian)
• St. Paul, Minnesota’s climate action plan focuses on transportation as a key opportunity to reduce emissions, including increased transit, pedestrian and biking infrastructure. (Energy News Network)
COMMENTARY:
• David Roberts of Vox explains how smart policies are helping California lead the rest of the nation in energy efficiency.
• Rural electric cooperatives in Louisiana could help the state break free of fossil fuels, a renewable advocate says. (The Lens)