UTILITIES: As utilities fight decarbonization through secretive political spending and public influence campaigns, the Energy and Policy Institute recommends federal and state lawmakers and regulators mandate utilities disclose their political spending and fine those that don’t comply. (Grist)
CLEAN ENERGY:
• Global fossil fuel use for electricity production has likely peaked and will decline as renewables take over, a clean energy group’s report suggests. (Inside Climate News)
• Georgia officials court electric vehicle and solar manufacturers as they seek to supercharge the state’s economy on momentum from the federally backed, global clean energy transition. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
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ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE:
• Analysis of U.S. EPA data reveals oil refineries release billions of pounds of water pollution annually in ways that disproportionately affect people of color, especially on the Gulf Coast and in Chicago and California. (NPR)
• Low-income housing residents say they feel forced to endure disproportionate fossil fuel pollution, noting they can’t choose to switch off gas stoves and other oil- and gas-powered appliances. (Guardian)
OFFSHORE WIND: Proactive transmission planning could save offshore wind developers $20 billion over the next few decades while minimizing environmental and community effects, a report from clean energy and environmental groups finds. (Utility Dive)
POLITICS: As Congress debated the climate bill last year, chemical, oil and gas, and utility interests topped the list of top lobbying spenders. (E&E News)
SOLAR: New York City’s John F. Kennedy Airport will install a 13,000-panel solar array and a 2 MW battery storage system, creating a microgrid to boost the airport’s resiliency. (The Hill)
LABOR: The U.S. Department of Energy scales up hiring as observers say the department isn’t prepared to implement infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act programs. (E&E News)
CLIMATE: Google let conservative site The Daily Wire advertise on search result pages for climate-denying queries such as “climate change is a hoax” and “why is climate change fake,” even after saying it wouldn’t allow such ads. (Guardian)
GRID:
• Utility leaders say they “got lucky” in avoiding a harsh storm season in New England and beyond last year, and that supply chain issues could’ve delayed recovery had extreme weather taken out the grid. (Utility Dive)
• Climate activists are working to seat advocates on an ISO New England committee to steer the grid operator toward more ambitious climate action. (Boston Globe)
HYDROGEN: A Minnesota gas utility successfully blends “green” hydrogen into its natural gas pipeline system, though some experts say the concept is an inefficient and expensive climate solution. (Energy News Network)
MINING: The Biden administration issues an order closing off 350 square miles of the Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota to future mining for 20 years. (Associated Press)
STORAGE: Xcel Energy plans to build a football-field-sized, 10 MW iron-air battery storage installation near the Comanche coal power plant in Colorado. (Colorado Sun)
COMMENTARY: A journalist argues covering big box stores and parking lots with solar panels would avoid the need to build utility-scale installations on Western public lands. (High Country News)
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