SOLAR: How a lobbying campaign by utilities to kill residential solar incentives has held the industry back. (New York Times)
ALSO:
• A new online platform that seeks to be the Amazon.com of home solar will let customers design their own solar installations based on their rooftop and then project cost and energy savings. (Greentech Media)
• A 52-megawatt solar installation in Mississippi — the largest in the state — is now generating electricity. (Associated Press)
STORAGE: California-based Tesla wins a contract to build a record-breaking 100-megawatt energy storage system in South Australia. (Greentech Media)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Industry analysts say electric vehicle adaption may go mainstream sooner than anticipated. (New York Times)
• Settlement money from Volkwagen’s emissions scandal has been used to install eight EV chargers in the nation’s capital, and nine more cities are expected to receive chargers over the summer. (Greentech Media)
• Germany’s biggest energy company will start offering charging points for electric vehicles through a new subsidiary in California. (Reuters)
CLIMATE:
• Research analysts say low clean energy costs ensure that the U.S. will meet its Paris climate goals, even if Trump withdraws from the agreement. (Quartz)
• The mayor of New Orleans releases a Climate Action Strategy in an effort to reduce the city’s carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2030. (ThinkProgress)
• At a G20 summit meeting in Germany, world leaders pledge to move forward on climate change without the U.S., while taking “note” of President Trump’s decision to scrap the deal. (New York Times)
OIL & GAS: Secretary of State and former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson receives a lifetime achievement award from the World Petroleum Congress in Istanbul. (Associated Press)
PIPELINES:
• Keystone XL opponents are weighing whether to appeal a decision allowing the pipeline through South Dakota to the state Supreme Court. (Associated Press)
• Nuns build a prayer chapel along the proposed route of a natural gas pipeline in Pennsylvania, saying the earth should be “a sanctuary where all life is protected.” (Associated Press)
COAL:
• The cultural legacy of coal is still celebrated in West Virginia, despite the industry’s downturn. (Washington Post)
• Advocates say an Indiana utility’s plan to delay the installation of new wastewater pollution controls at its largest coal plant is among the first clear effects of President Trump’s rollback of environmental regulations. (Midwest Energy News)
REGULATION: EPA attorneys object to an Appeals Court decision that the agency must immediately enforce an Obama-era rule to limit methane emissions from oil and natural gas operations. (The Hill)
ENERGY: Energy Secretary Rick Perry is considering requiring utilities to buy some electricity from coal-fired or nuclear power plants. (Blue Ridge Public Radio)
GRID:
• The CEO of the PJM Interconnection talks about ongoing changes to the nation’s largest electricity market “at a time of unprecedented change.” (Utility Dive)
• Colorado regulators worry that joining the 14-state Southwest Power Pool transmission network could jeopardize reliability. (Denver Post)
UTILITIES: Appalachian Power Company’s president says its goal is to rely 50 percent on coal and 50 percent on renewable energy. (MetroNews)
COMMENTARY:
• As batteries get cheaper, it will make little sense for utilities to wage war against residential solar, says a writer at Vox.
• With “clean coal” projects failing in the U.S., it’s time for Congress to foster markets that make the best low-carbon technologies profitable, according to the Washington Post editorial board.