CLIMATE: The U.S. will participate in an international summit on a “green recovery” to advance clean energy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. (The Guardian)
ALSO: A push within the financial sector to take climate change more seriously could result in new federal legislation on risk disclosure. (E&E News)
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CLEAN ENERGY:
• An Arizona utility proposes to get 70% of its electricity from wind and solar by 2035, with plans for 2.5 GW of new capacity. (PV Tech)
• Advocates of heat pumps criticize a Rhode Island report on decarbonizing the heating sector that discounts the technology and instead suggests further study of alternatives. (Energy News Network)
• Advocates assess how efficiency and other clean energy sectors are faring during the pandemic. (E&E News)
SOLAR:
• The first projects under Illinois’ Solar for All program are installed on Chicago’s South Side at no upfront cost to residents. (Energy News Network)
• Major anticipated solar development in Indiana, Michigan and southern states is expected to eclipse wind production in grid operator MISO’s service territory. (RTO Insider, subscription)
ELECTRIFICATION: California’s largest utility supports an emerging plan to require “efficient, all-electric new construction” in the state. (Greentech Media)
COAL:
• In a “historic decision,” Colorado Springs utility regulators vote to retire the city’s coal plants by 2023 and 2030. (Colorado Sun)
• Florida utilities develop a plan to retire an 848 MW coal unit at a Georgia power plant. (Utility Dive)
• After cleaning up pollution, West Virginia communities were banking on tourism to help their economies — then the coronavirus pandemic hit. (Ohio Valley Resource)
NUCLEAR: Two companies that won a $300 million annual subsidy for their nuclear plants offer to give it up if New Jersey switches to contracts for energy produced in the state. (NJ Spotlight)
PIPELINES:
• The Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of northeast Montana file a federal lawsuit opposing the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. (Montana Free Press)
• Environmental groups say Michigan officials have multiple options to permanently shut down Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline, including revoking a key easement to operate in the Great Lakes. (Michigan Advance)
• New York’s highest court reverses a lower court ruling and allows eminent domain proceedings to continue against a western New York landowner who challenged pipeline development across his property. (Olean Times Herald)
OIL & GAS:
• Chesapeake Energy, which led a surge in fracking that helped the U.S. become a natural gas exporter, filed for bankruptcy on Sunday. (New York Times)
• The surge in COVID-19 cases in Texas could make it harder for the oil and gas industry to recover. (Houston Chronicle)
FRAC SAND: One of Wisconsin’s largest sand mining companies plans to file for bankruptcy and may be forced to close due to shrinking demand that grew worse during the pandemic. (Wisconsin State Journal)
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OVERSIGHT:
• Advocates criticize President Trump’s decision to formally nominate William Pendley, who in the past has said federal land should be sold to the states, to head the Bureau of Land Management. (E&E News)
• Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst plans to block a Trump EPA appointment over biofuel waivers. (E&E News)
COMMENTARY: A conservative clean energy advocate in Minnesota discusses the hyperpartisanship that’s making it difficult to advance bipartisan policy on issues like climate change and energy. (Minnesota Reformer)