BUILDINGS: While heat pumps are growing in popularity, some advocates say a marketing push is needed to overcome a lack of consumer visibility and an arguably confusing name. (Washington Post)

POLITICS: West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who this week has said he may support repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act, now faces a significant 2024 challenge from Republican Gov. Jim Justice, a vocal supporter of the coal industry. (The Hill, Politico)

GRID:
• House Democrats release a draft of a permitting reform bill, focused primarily on clean energy and community involvement. (The Hill)
• An Illinois congressman and former federal regulators say a paradigm shift is needed to bring more competition to the power sector and allow more distributed generation resources. (Utility Dive)
• A California bill envisions electric vehicle batteries as a massive source of backup power for the state’s grid, but experts say numerous technical hurdles stand in the way. (E&E News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Groups representing Ohio consumers and manufacturers are trying to stop legislation that would allow utilities to charge ratepayers to install electric vehicle charging stations. (Ohio Capital Journal)
• New York City’s transit agency says riders can travel with electric micromobility devices but cannot charge within the system. (NY Daily News)

TRANSPORTATION: California regulators approve a first-in-the-nation rule aimed at cutting railway pollution by banning aging locomotives and requiring freight railroads to adopt zero-emissions technology. (Associated Press)

CLIMATE:
• In Connecticut, proposed legislation would empower the state’s environmental agency to write new rules it deems necessary to meet decarbonization goals; critics call it a “power grab.” (Energy News Network)
• North Carolina’s Catawba College becomes the first campus in the Southeast and the 13th in the country to achieve a net-zero carbon footprint. (Energy News Network)

CARBON CAPTURE: Recently announced carbon capture initiatives represent a leap forward for the technology, but serious questions remain as to whether the projects will actually be completed. (Inside Climate News) 

NUCLEAR: A new report says widespread deployment of small modular reactors could take decades due to technical, regulatory and economic barriers. (Reuters)

SOLAR: California solar industry officials say the state’s recent net-metering regulatory change slashing compensation for residential solar has left them in “completely uncharted territory.” (Inside Climate News)

COMMENTARY:
• Michigan environmental justice advocates call on state lawmakers to hold major utilities accountable for repeated power outages that have spanned days. (Planet Detroit)
• U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson’s argument that his home state of Wisconsin will have fewer climate-related deaths ignores climate change’s uneven and disproportionate impacts on populations, a columnist writes. (Washington Post)

More from the Energy News Network: Midwest | Southeast | Northeast | West

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.