DEMAND RESPONSE: The U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s authority to require that power users be paid for scaling back energy usage during times of peak demand. Environmental groups welcomed the ruling. (Greenwire, New York Times)
NATURAL GAS:
• Hundreds of natural gas storage sites across the U.S. are subject to a patchwork of state regulations, little federal oversight and aging infrastructure. (InsideClimate News)
• California regulators order the utility responsible for an ongoing leak from a natural gas storage site to close and seal the well, but they did not order the shutdown of the storage site. (InsideClimate News)
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RENEWABLES:
• As San Diego transitions to 100 percent renewable energy, a dispute is brewing over whether to let the city or a utility purchase the electricity. (National Public Radio)
• Xcel Energy launches a sweeping plan for improving Colorado’s grid, which includes a greater reliance on renewables. (Denver Business Journal)
STORAGE: Philadelphia’s train system is experimenting with a battery storage technique that sends electricity back to the grid, creating savings and new revenue. (New York Times)
DIVESTMENT: California’s insurance commissioner calls on all insurance companies operating in the state to divest from coal companies. (Reuters)
COAL:
• A federal appeals court rejects an industry challenge aimed a limiting miners’ exposure to coal dust which causes deadly black lung disease. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• A coalition of environmental groups is challenging the federal government’s approval of a New Mexico coal plant and mine. (Albuquerque Journal)
• Plans to expand a central Illinois coal mine are moving forward, despite it being shut down and evacuated because of elevated carbon monoxide levels that its operator can’t find the source of. (Midwest Energy News)
• Major changes won’t happen over the next three years amid the federal moratorium on new coal leases for public lands, but potential changes over time “terrify industry and coal-state lawmakers.” (Greenwire)
OIL AND GAS:
• More than 4,000 gallons of oil spilled into the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia this week.
• Federal analysts project natural gas prices will steadily increase in the coming years. (Fuel Fix)
• The first big challenge to upholding renewable energy goals in the Paris climate accord is continued reliance on oil amid low prices. (New York Times)
CAPACITY: Experts warn that data centers around the world will consume three times as much energy in the next decade. (The Independent)
TRANSMISSION: A report from NOAA says a new transcontinental transmission system to move wind and solar energy could reduce carbon emissions 78 percent over the next 15 years. (Climate Central)
PIPELINES: The Canadian government will begin requiring climate change tests for proposed oil pipelines and a LNG export terminal. (Reuters)
SOLAR: 10 states are undergoing potentially major changes to statewide solar policy. (Utility Dive)
CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• A Missouri lawmaker — and critic of the federal rules — wants ratepayers’ electric bills to include a line item for Clean Power Plan costs. (EnergyWire)
• Grid operator MISO says a mass-based approach to compliance would cost one-third as much as a rate-based approach by 2030. (RTO Insider)
• The operators of power grids serving several Southeast states warn of “reliability issues” during the plan’s implementation. (Platts)
COMMENTARY:
• As energy markets change, officials in Montana should start considering ways to diversify the state’s portfolio with less reliance on coal. (Billings Gazette)
• The Sierra Club says TransCanada refuses to accept defeat following the U.S.’s Keystone XL rejection. (Huffington Post)
• A proposal by California utilities to restructure the state’s net metering program “would impair the industry’s sustainability and create new risks.” (Greentech Media)