GRID: More than $5 billion in investments may be necessary to upgrade California’s transmission system to bring large amounts of renewable energy capacity online, according to a new report. (Utility Dive)
SOLAR:
• The owner of Arizona’s largest utility forms a third-party group to support candidates for the state’s regulatory commission. (Bloomberg)
• Solar advocates in Florida are filing a lawsuit that seeks to disqualify the outcome of a controversial solar amendment. (Miami Herald)
• A school district in California expects to cut electricity costs by 13 percent by installing solar systems at 16 schools. (Education Dive)
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OIL & GAS: The country set a new record for gasoline consumption in June, surpassing the 2007 record of 9.6 million barrels a day, according to a government report. (FuelFix)
TRANSPORTATION: Cars broke fuel economy records last year, averaging 24.8 miles per gallon and outperforming mandated emissions limits, according to the EPA. (The Hill)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Nissan Leaf sales surpass 100,000 in the U.S. (CleanTechnica)
PIPELINES:
• President Obama says the government is exploring options for rerouting the Dakota Access Pipeline away from Native American lands in North Dakota, while the company behind the project says it hasn’t been notified of any such plans. (Reuters/Dallas Business Journal)
• Energy officials are determining the extent of gasoline shortages caused by a fatal pipeline blast in Alabama, as prices in New York jump the most in nearly eight years. (Reuters/Bloomberg)
• House Democrats ask federal officials to investigate the Colonial Pipeline Company, which owns a pipeline that exploded in Alabama this week, killing one person. (The Hill)
• Climate activists could face decades in prison for shutting down five pipelines that transport oil from Canada to the U.S. (KING)
BIOMASS: Missouri researchers say burning wood-based biomass could help coal-dependent Midwestern power plants meet emissions reductions required under the Clean Power Plan. (Midwest Energy News)
UTILITIES: A day after announcing a write-down of its coal plants, American Electric Power says it plans to invest $1 billion in renewable energy: “This stuff is real and it’s happening.” (Columbus Business First)
NUCLEAR: Federal regulators finish a seven-year study partly clearing the way for two new reactors at the Turkey Point plant in Florida. (Miami Herald)
POLITICS:
• Environmental and oil lobbies spent millions to influence California legislation, including major climate change measures, from July 1 through the end of September. (Sacramento Bee)
• Utility, fossil fuel and nuclear energy interests contributed about $3 million to political campaigns in Ohio this election season. (Midwest Energy News)
• A grassroots group in Massachusetts is fighting to get fossil fuel money out of politics by having politicians sign pledges not to accept the funds. (ThinkProgress)
COMMENTARY: The clean energy revolution is happening in the Northeast. (ThinkProgress)