COAL: The EPA proposes tougher limits on wastewater discharges from coal plants and other industrial facilities, but the agency says the rule is not “aimed at driving a specific outcome” with regard to the sector’s decline. (E&E News)

SOLAR: New solar installations fell in 2022 for the first time since 2018 due largely to supply chain issues, but the industry expects a resurgence this year, according to a new report. (Financial Times, subscription; SEIA)

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ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE:
• A Chicago-area partnership is helping to fill the need for more electricians to meet clean energy job demands while also expanding training and opportunities to women and environmental justice communities. (Energy News Network)
• A proposed Minnesota bill would create stronger permitting requirements for facilities seeking to emit pollutants in environmental justice areas and require regulators to evaluate existing pollution in communities. (Sahan Journal)

EFFICIENCY: Sustainability advocates hail a North Carolina energy efficiency program for its success in rallying local residents to fill gaps and overcome barriers that grant money alone can’t solve. (Energy News Network)

CLIMATE:
• The EPA is proposing to more than triple the social cost of carbon figure, but experts say the impact could be minimal without additional policy support. (E&E News)
• A Pennsylvania budget proposal suggests the state will participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative next year and will raise over $600 million from charging power plants for carbon dioxide emissions. (Allegheny Front)

GRID:
• A new report says global grid capacity will need to more than double to accommodate clean energy needed to avert the worst impacts of climate change. (Bloomberg NEF)
• A Utah firm files a final license application for a proposed 1,000 MW pumped hydropower storage facility in eastern Nevada. (Canary Media)

NUCLEAR: Federal regulators release a draft of updated regulations for small modular reactors and other advanced nuclear technology, as required by a 2019 law. (Utility Dive)

OIL & GAS:
• Sen. Joe Manchin criticizes a delay in a federal offshore drilling plan as part of a “radical climate agenda.” (Washington Post)
• Federal officials order TC Energy to lower the pressure of crude oil along another 1,200 miles of the Keystone pipeline following a major spill in Kansas late last year. (KCUR)

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CARBON CAPTURE: A carbon pipeline developer is struggling to secure an underground storage site for emissions it plans to capture from Midwest ethanol plants as residents refuse to give up land rights over fears that the reservoirs could leak. (Reuters)

COMMENTARY: A columnist says a lack of prominent backlash to the Inflation Recovery Act could signal that an era of bipartisan cooperation on clean energy could actually be arriving. (New York Times)

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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.