ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The price of batteries has plummeted since 2010, but electric vehicles are getting more expensive due to other supply chain problems and automakers’ focus on top-of-the-line models. (Grist)
ALSO:
• The Department of Energy partners with automakers, charging companies, and California utilities and regulators to test redirecting electric vehicle battery power to the grid. (Canary Media)
• A three-year study in New York shows Con Edison successfully redirected electric school buses’ stored power back to the grid when it was needed. (School Transportation News)
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EFFICIENCY: The Biden administration adopts two new rules that set stronger efficiency requirements for light bulbs and would largely phase out the sale of incandescent bulbs by 2023. (New York Times)
OVERSIGHT: Environmental advocates worry the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is backtracking on its climate commitments after it reversed a plan to evaluate energy projects’ emissions impacts. (Washington Post)
FINANCE:
• Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America shareholders vote down activist investor resolutions to stop fossil fuel lending. (E&E News)
• Texas demands financial firms disclose whether they restrict or prohibit doing business with fossil fuel companies as part of a state effort to divest from companies with climate or social goals. (Bloomberg)
POLITICS: As U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia negotiates a bipartisan climate and energy bill, Democrats and climate advocates push him to support a larger social spending and tax package. (Politico)
STORAGE:
• The Department of Energy’s loan office announces $500 million in funding for a Utah project aiming to produce hydrogen with excess clean electricity and store it in underground salt caverns. (E&E News)
• Planned expansions at battery storage manufacturing facilities in Michigan and Ohio are part of LG Energy Solution’s broader, $5.5 billion growth plan in the coming years. (S&P Global)
OIL & GAS:
• Fossil fuel companies resist ramping up production amid high fuel costs over fears the boom won’t last long enough to turn a profit from new wells. (New York Times)
• California lawmakers consider a bill that would ban new and existing offshore oil drilling by 2024. (Politico)
CLEAN ENERGY:
• Democratic congress members introduce bills to overhaul the U.S.’s primary mining law to prioritize clean energy material production. (E&E News)
• Just 2.43% of Massachusetts municipal utilities’ power comes from clean energy, a report finds, though many are still technically on track to comply with a state climate law due to nuclear energy usage. (Boston Globe)
SOLAR: The U.S.’s probe into South Asian solar panel imports could cut domestic installations by 46% this year, a solar industry advocacy group says. (Bloomberg)
OFFSHORE WIND: University of New Hampshire researchers partner with Vineyard Wind to gather data on how offshore turbines’ underwater sounds may affect marine life. (New Hampshire Public Radio)
COAL: Xcel Energy proposes closing the Comanche 3 coal power plant in Colorado four years ahead of schedule and meeting 80% of customer power demand with renewable energy by 2030. (Denver Post)
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