Note to readers: U.S. Energy News is taking a break for the holiday and will be back on Monday, Nov. 29. Thank you for reading!
COAL: Dozens of coal-fired plants nationwide are preparing to shut down in the coming years due to stricter federal wastewater pollution controls. (Associated Press)
ALSO: A West Virginia community has had decades to transition its economy from coal but still struggles with the decline of the industry. (Mountain State Spotlight)
OIL & GAS:
• The Biden administration announces it will tap the U.S.’s strategic oil reserves as other countries do the same amid an increase in gasoline prices. (Politico)
• Boston Mayor Michelle Wu bans the use of city funds for fossil fuel investments and sets a divestment deadline of 2025 for existing assets. (Boston Globe)
• The Keystone XL pipeline developer seeks to recoup $15 billion from the U.S. government after the Biden administration canceled its permits. (Bloomberg)
• Minnesota police officials invoiced Enbridge more than $3 million for expenses related to surveilling Line 3 protests. (VICE)
CLIMATE: President Biden renominates Jerome Powell to lead the Federal Reserve, disappointing some climate activists who hoped for the elevation of a Fed governor focused on climate risk mitigation. (E&E News)
FINANCE: Jigar Shah, the head of the Energy Department’s loan office, lays out how companies and financiers can use government loan guarantees to make grid-responsive, energy-efficient appliances more affordable. (Canary Media)
WIND:
• An Iowa company uses a large wood chipper to grind old wind turbines to be recycled, though the process has drawn opposition from wind energy opponents. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
• Danish wind developer Orsted buys a 302 MW Illinois wind project that has long-term power purchase agreements with Facebook’s parent company and McDonald’s. (Bloomberg)
• Conservationists and Indigenous groups intensify calls for the Biden administration to designate a national monument on southern Nevada land targeted by wind power developers. (Las Vegas Sun)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Hyundai announces plans to make electric vehicles at its U.S. factories in Alabama and Georgia but hesitates due to a potential tax credit for U.S.- and union-made EVs. (Korea Herald)
• A General Motors official calls on the U.S. government to speed up mine permitting to supply materials to domestic electric vehicle manufacturing plants. (E&E News, subscription)
UTILITIES: Federal regulators seek comments as PJM Interconnection utilities propose they be allowed to profit from transmission upgrades needed to bring more power online. (Utility Dive)
HYDROGEN: Environmental groups pan New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s bid to create four hydrogen hubs that would produce the fuel from natural gas. (Capital & Main)