POLAR VORTEX: Extreme cold is putting the systems of grid operators PJM and MISO to the test while stoking debate over resilience with federal regulators. (Utility Dive)
ALSO:
• As U.S. homes and businesses use record amounts of natural gas, Marcellus and Utica shale production was down due to the freeze. (Reuters)
• Utilities in Minnesota and Michigan ask customers to turn down thermostats after a service interruption and compressor station fire. (WCCO, Detroit News)
• Large automakers temporarily suspend operations at several Michigan plants to conserve energy during the extreme cold. (Reuters)
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WIND:
• An Oklahoma wind farm partners with Budweiser’s parent company to help power this weekend’s Super Bowl in Atlanta. (Oklahoman)
• The U.S. wind industry is pushing hard to make the most of falling costs, technological improvements and an expiring federal tax credit. (JOC.com)
SOLAR:
• Kansas utility customers with solar installations get creative about conserving energy to avoid demand charges. (Energy News Network)
• Communities of color disproportionately miss out on the benefits of rooftop solar, according to a new study. (CityLab)
• New Jersey is remaking its system for subsidizing solar power amid criticism that current price rules are hindering the industry’s growth. (Asbury Park Press)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Long-range electric vehicles are expected to surpass hybrids as the most economical choice for ride-hailing drivers by 2025, according to a new report. (Energy News Network)
• In the past three years, 14 states have enacted annual registration fees on electric vehicles ranging from $50 to $200 to make up for lost gasoline tax revenue. (Governing)
SMART GRID: Consumer advocates, utilities and technology developers are working on ways to make energy usage data from smart meters more useful to customers. (Energy News Network)
OIL & GAS:
• Nearly half the members of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee members are personally invested in oil, gas and coal companies. (Sludge)
• The BLM will move forward with the sale of oil and gas leases near a national park in New Mexico considered sacred to Native Americans. (Associated Press)
• One of the largest oil services providers looks to expand in wind and solar as it sees a “tipping point” toward a post-fossil fuel world. (Bloomberg)
PIPELINES:
• Minnesota police have spent 18 months preparing for a major standoff with protesters over Enbridge’s plan to replace Line 3. (The Intercept)
• An appeals court stays a decision against U.S. Forest Service permits for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. (Reuters)
• Two proposed pipelines could bring 1.3 million barrels of crude oil to refineries and export terminals in Houston by 2021. (Houston Chronicle)
FRACKING: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy calls for a total ban on fracking and fracking waste in the Delaware River Basin. (NJ Spotlight)
COAL:
• More than half of U.S. coal mines have closed in the last decade as demand for fossil fuels decreases, according to the Energy Department. (Houston Chronicle)
• Colorado’s new attorney general says the state will withdraw from a lawsuit challenging the Obama administration’s plan to reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. (Associated Press)
• A South Carolina utility has no plans to retire a coal-fired power plant despite calls from its largest customer to do so. (S&P Global)
NUCLEAR: Federal officials confirm they secretly shipped plutonium from South Carolina to Nevada, angering state officials there. (The Nevada Independent)
AVIATION: Supersonic aircraft could cut hours off long-haul flights but also produce more greenhouse gas emissions. (The Guardian)
UTILITIES: A ballot initiative that would break up Florida’s monopoly utilities and let residents produce their own power heads to the state Supreme Court. (PV Magazine)
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CLIMATE:
• A Nashville city council member pushes solar and climate policies to help make the city the greenest in the Southeast. (Nashville Scene)
• Boston will begin efforts to reduce transportation emissions as part of a Climate Action Plan designed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. (NGT News)
COMMENTARY:
• Is 100 percent renewable energy possible? Yes, but the devil is in the details, write a policy advisor and executive with the Environmental Working Group. (Utility Dive)
• The electricity industry’s troubling trend to overbuild gas-fired power plants is only getting worse, says an energy analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists.