CLEAN ENERGY: New Mexico regulators approve a plan that replaces electricity from a retiring coal plant with 100% renewables and battery storage. (New Mexico Political Report) 

ALSO:
• Arizona regulators reveal a new proposal mandating that utilities eventually get all their power from carbon-free sources by 2050. (Arizona Republic)
• An analysis looks at what it would take to achieve Joe Biden’s plan for 100% clean energy by 2035. (Washington Post)
• A new report finds 41 states have grown their economies while reducing carbon emissions since 2005. (Fast Company)

***SPONSORED LINK: The Cleanie Awards — the #1 awards program in clean technology — is now accepting applications! Submit to win, or contact us with any questions. Applications close July 30.***

OIL & GAS: Declaring “don’t mess with Texas,” President Trump touts the U.S. oil industry while signing infrastructure permits in a visit to the Permian Basin. (Texas Tribune)

PIPELINES:
• With the Atlantic Coast Pipeline canceled, Virginia landowners want to scrub easements from their property records. (Energy News Network)
• A new report indicates flaring could increase in the Permian Basin in coming years if new pipeline projects are delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. (E&E News, subscription)

OVERSIGHT: Environmental groups sue the Trump administration over regulatory changes that would limit community input on infrastructure projects. (The Hill)

UTILITIES:
• ComEd officials insist the company’s wrongdoing in Illinois was “misconduct” — not a crime — and orchestrated by “a few” former staffers. (Crain’s Chicago Business)
• FirstEnergy and AEP leaders distance themselves from an alleged $60 million bribery scheme as they seek to help their stock prices recover. (Utility Dive)

EQUITY:
• California Sen. Kamala Harris plans to introduce a sweeping environmental justice bill today. (Grist)
• A University of Michigan professor discusses how bringing more energy efficiency programs to low-income households promotes energy equity. (Grist)
• The director of the Massachusetts governor’s office for environmental justice says her goal is to get a contact person for equity issues in every executive office. (WBUR)
• U.S. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said last week in Ohio that he had not read a study linking the agency’s relaxed enforcement during the pandemic with air pollution increases and elevated COVID-19 cases and deaths. (Energy News Network)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Panasonic’s electric vehicle battery business announces plans to boost the energy density of battery cells it supplies to Tesla by 20% in five years. (Reuters)
• General Motors unveils more details about its Hummer electric pickup truck, which is set to start production in fall 2021. (CNET)

SOLAR: A bill being considered by New Jersey legislators would boost large solar projects by opening up farmland, reversing a previous policy that avoided those locations. (NJ Spotlight)

WIND: A bipartisan coalition of 32 northeastern Ohio lawmakers urge state regulators to reconsider their “puzzling” decision on a Lake Erie offshore wind project that developers have said would effectively kill the plan. (Energy News Network)

NUCLEAR: Several workers at a Florida nuclear power plant are fired for not completing a safety inspection of a critical piece of equipment and then falsifying records. (Sun Sentinel)

***SPONSORED LINK: Register today for Veterans Advanced Energy Week, August 10-13, a virtual learning experience dedicated to military veterans and spouses in advanced  energy and national security. Learn more at www.vetsenergyproject.org/. ***

GRID: New England’s grid operator analyzes power use for the first six weeks of the summer and finds no significant change from models run last year to predict demand, despite COVID-19. (RTO Insider, subscription required)

COMMENTARY:
• “If communities of color are consistently disempowered, there will always be a place to burn fossil fuels”: climate policy expert Rhiana Gunn-Wright explains why equity and climate action can’t be separate issues. (Bloomberg)
• Energy is a basic need, and many Americans are struggling to afford it during the COVID-19 recession, write two public and environmental affairs professors. (The Conversation)

Avatar photo

Ken Paulman

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.