EMISSIONS: The Biden administration unveils new tailpipe emissions rules that stop short of mandating full electrification but would lead to an estimated two-thirds of new light-duty vehicles and nearly half of medium-duty vehicles being electric by 2032. (E&E News)
ALSO: The rules would generate as much as $1.6 trillion in consumer savings and remove 10 billion tons of carbon emissions from the atmosphere by 2055, the White House estimates. (Detroit News)
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CLEAN ENERGY:
• Coal made up its smallest portion of the U.S. power market in history last quarter, contributing 17% of the country’s electricity while renewables — hydropower, solar and wind — made up 22%. (The Hill)
• Community advocates hope federal tax credit for projects in “energy communities” long anchored by fossil fuel industries will spur more wind and solar projects in Appalachian coalfields. (Grist)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
• Changing attitudes about electric vehicles will likely help the Biden administration’s tailpipe emissions rules successfully encourage EV adoption, but unwilling consumers still pose a challenge. (Politico)
• The Black Economic Council of Massachusetts helps Black-owned businesses get a foothold in the growing electric vehicle market, highlighting opportunities to install, service or resell charging equipment. (Energy News Network)
GRID:
• The total capacity of generation and storage projects in the U.S. grid interconnection queue grew 40% from 2021 to 2022, with the typical project now waiting five years to plug in, researchers find. (Utility Dive)
• The federal Bureau of Land Management greenlights the 732-mile TransWest Express transmission project stretching from a planned 3,000 MW wind facility in southern Wyoming to southern Nevada. (The Hill)
HYDROPOWER:
• The Biden administration proposes options for cutting Colorado River water consumption to maintain hydropower generating capacity at Glen Canyon and Hoover Dams. (Los Angeles Times)
• Plans for an 1,800 MW pumped hydroelectric storage project in South Dakota would need to overcome dozens of feasibility and impact studies ahead of a planned completion in 2035. (Mitchell Republic)
ELECTRIFICATION: Restaurant chain Chipotle unveils an all-electric restaurant concept that relies entirely on clean power to run its stoves, electric car chargers, lights and more. (Axios)
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Midwest Energy Policy Series
Network and learn from leading industry experts at the Midwest Energy Policy Series on infrastructure, the premiere conference for energy professionals in the Midwest, on April 25th in Kansas City or virtually. Register here or contact meps@moenergy.org with any questions.
WIND: A coalition of Democratic lawmakers, environmental groups and labor unions back a plan for an offshore wind pilot program in Lake Michigan near Chicago. (WREX)
COMMENTARY:
• A former Department of Energy official says GOP-led states will be among the biggest beneficiaries of the Inflation Reduction Act even as Republican lawmakers seek to repeal key funding provisions in the law. (The Hill)
• An energy analyst notes how spring weather brings heightened threat levels to the power grid, pointing to the recent outbreak of storms and tornadoes that slammed the Southeast and Midwest. (The Equation)
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