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TRANSMISSION: Energy company PSEG unveils the proposed route for a controversial 70-mile transmission line in Maryland that has drawn opposition from landowners, farmers, and environmental advocates. (Maryland Matters)
ALSO: New England states plan to seek proposals to increase north-to-south transmission capacity to avoid an overload from offshore wind coming online by 2035. (RTO Insider, subscription)
NATURAL GAS:
CONSUMER PROTECTION: Lawmakers and advocates are confident a Maryland consumer protection law regulating energy retailers will survive legal challenges by power supply companies. (Inside Climate News)
OFFSHORE WIND: A joint venture between National Grid and a German utility proposes a 2.8-GW wind farm off Long Island, the largest offshore wind project ever proposed to New York regulators. (Maritime Executive)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
POLITICS:
GRID:
STORAGE: The U.S. added 5 GW of utility-scale battery storage in the first seven months of this year, bringing total installations to 21.4 GW and continuing an exponential deployment trend. (The Guardian)
ALSO:
COAL:
GRID: Power plant owners support PJM’s proposal to delay an upcoming capacity auction by six months to craft new capacity market rules, but warn that longer delays could erode investor confidence. (Utility Dive)
POLITICS:
WORKFORCE: A report finds some small states are punching above their weight in clean job creation, while some top fossil fuel-producing states are missing an opportunity to shift their economies. (Yale Climate Connections)
EMISSIONS:
MATERIALS: The U.S. Treasury Department unveils tax incentives for material extraction and producing clean energy components. (Axios)
NUCLEAR: Amazon and utilities propose advanced nuclear reactors in Washington state to power the firm’s data centers in Oregon, which has a ban on new nuclear plants. (OPB)
UTILITIES: A report finds agencies have downgraded more than 100 utilities’ credit ratings due to wildfire hazard as insurance and mitigation costs have increased, leading to higher electricity rates. (Utility Dive)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
EFFICIENCY: Harvard University researchers retrofitted a 1940s home with a ground-source heat pump, solar panels and other efficient technologies to show how older homes can achieve carbon neutrality. (Utility Dive)
GRID: The U.S. Energy Department announces $2 billion in grants to shore up and expand the power grid, including a previously announced $612 million for areas wracked by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. (Canary Media)
ALSO:
POLITICS:
NUCLEAR: After years of declining interest, many state lawmakers have opened the door to nuclear energy development as tech companies push for carbon-free energy to power data centers. (Associated Press)
GEOTHERMAL: The federal Bureau of Land Management approves a 2,000 MW enhanced geothermal energy project in southwest Utah, and proposes streamlining permitting for geothermal projects on federal land. (E&E News)
HYDROGEN: A report finds a third of the projects planned as part of an Appalachian hydrogen hub in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania already have been scrapped, raising questions about the federally funded project’s viability. (Inside Climate News)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: General Motors’ CEO affirms the company is still committed to phasing out combustion car sales by 2035, and says GM will start making a profit on electric vehicles this year. (New York Times)
CARBON CAPTURE: Meta says it will match the U.S. Energy Department’s $35 million investment to kickstart a carbon market. (Utility Dive)
WIND: Offshore wind saw advancements in federal permitting and construction on ports and projects in the third quarter this year, but private investment has slowed in advance of the election, an industry group finds. (Utility Dive)
SOLAR: After Hurricane Helene disabled more than 350 electrical substations in western North Carolina, advocates call for widespread installation of solar-plus-storage microgrids as a more effective climate resiliency investment than storm-hardening traditional grid infrastructure. (Canary Media)
ALSO:
HYDROGEN:
NUCLEAR: Kentucky and West Virginia are among the states where lawmakers have opened the door to nuclear energy development as tech companies push for carbon-free energy to power data centers. (Associated Press)
OIL & GAS:
PIPELINES: The launch of operations at the 580-mile Matterhorn Express pipeline has opened up distribution bottlenecks from the Permian Basin, reversing price trends and incentivizing operators to increase production. (Reuters)
HYDROPOWER: Public opposition helped defeat a proposal to build new dams around Asheville in the ‘60s and ‘70s, which contributed to the flooding of the city by the French Broad River during Hurricane Helene. (The Dispatch)
GRID: Regional grid operator PJM asks federal regulators for a six-month delay in its next auction after environmental groups file a complaint alleging it could unnecessarily cost ratepayers an extra $14.5 billion. (Dominion Post)
UTILITIES:
OVERSIGHT: Louisiana voters consider three candidates for a seat on the state’s powerful energy regulatory board. (Louisiana Illuminator)
ADVOCACY: A former NFL player discusses his involvement in the Sierra Club’s campaign against coal-fired power in western North Carolina led him to become a lobbyist with the organization. (Sierra)
BATTERIES: California’s grid operator sets a new single-day peak battery discharge record of 8,300 MW after surpassing 10,000 MW of installed storage capacity. (PV Magazine)
SOLAR:
PUBLIC LANDS: The Biden administration designates the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary off California’s coast, banning new offshore oil drilling and other development on more than 4,500 square miles of ocean. (Los Angeles Times)
OVERSIGHT: California officials work to fortify state climate and environmental regulations against a potential second Trump administration by preemptively preparing legal challenges and forging agreements with corporations. (New York Times)
OIL & GAS:
UTILITIES: Wyoming lawmakers consider industry-crafted legislation that would limit utilities’ liability for non-economic losses suffered from power equipment-sparked wildfires. (WyoFile)
WIND: California commercial fishermen file a lawsuit accusing state regulators of skirting federal law by issuing sonar testing permits to offshore wind developers along the state’s central coast. (Cal Coast News)
BIOFUELS: Oregon residents and advocates push back against a proposed biofuel transfer facility, saying it poses safety and environmental risks. (OPB)
HYDROGEN: A pet food company adds a hydrogen fuel cell truck to its California delivery fleet to test the technology’s scalability. (Biofuels Digest)
GEOTHERMAL: The federal Bureau of Land Management sells 66 geothermal leases on about 219,000 acres in Nevada and nets $7.8 million. (Las Vegas Sun)
EMISSIONS: California regulators begin crafting rules aimed at limiting dairies’ methane emissions, but advocates worry proposed exemptions could preemptively weaken them. (Canary Media)
NUCLEAR: Academic advocates cast doubt on a proposed advanced nuclear reactor under development in Wyoming, saying it will cost far more than other carbon-free energy sources and has a radioactive waste problem. (Casper Star-Tribune)
COMMENTARY:
GRID: President Biden announces $612 million for six projects to improve electric grid resilience in hurricane-affected communities. (NPR)
ALSO: More than 550 incarcerated men suffered in North Carolina prison cells without lights or running water for five days after Helene, until they finally were transferred to different facilities. (Intercept)
SOLAR: A nonprofit and a solar company partner to deliver 33 solar-plus-battery microgrids and dozens more portable batteries to western North Carolina communities that still lack power from Hurricane Helene’s damage. (Associated Press)
NUCLEAR:
HYDROELECTRIC: A Virginia town council budgets $272,500 for a feasibility study of using a pair of small-flow turbines to run its hydroelectric plant when the James River is low. (Lynchburg News & Advance)
OIL & GAS: Tennessee farmers protest the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plans to build a gas-fired power plant. (WZTV)
COAL:
CLIMATE:
COAL ASH: Tennessee officials learn about the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plan to spend $1 billion into improving how it stores coal ash byproducts. (Gallatin News)
EFFICIENCY: An Alabama electric cooperative offers energy efficiency rebates through a Tennessee Valley Authority program. (Cullman Tribune)
POLITICS:
COMMENTARY: An editor considers the complicated question of whether climate change is leading more people to move to mountainous Appalachia. (Cardinal News)
GRID: The flooding that accompanied Hurricane Helene could push utilities in Appalachia to rethink the region’s power grid, described by one official as a “really far-flung set of distribution lines going up into the hills and serving different communities.” (Grist)
ALSO:
CLIMATE:
SOLAR:
CARBON CAPTURE: Exxon Mobil announces it’s secured leases for 271,000 acres in waters off Texas for an offshore carbon capture project. (Reuters)
EFFICIENCY: Louisiana receives $32 million in federal funds to weatherize and improve energy efficiency at senior living complexes. (NOLA.com)
UTILITIES:
OIL & GAS:
PIPELINES: Federal regulators assert they have the power to extend the deadline for the Mountain Valley Pipeline to build a spur into North Carolina despite the objections of environmentalists. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)
POLITICS:
COMMENTARY: As Virginia deals with a surge of data center development, state officials should keep an eye on a utility’s proposal in Ohio that would require data centers to pay for at least 90% of the power they ask for, regardless of whether they end up using all of it, writes a columnist. (Virginia Mercury)
TRANSMISSION: A federal appeals court ruling likely removes the last major obstacle for a $1.5 billion transmission line project that would import hydropower from Canada into the New England grid. (Utility Dive)
NATURAL GAS:
HEATING: In Vermont, draft rules for a system to incentivize lower-carbon heating sources propose counting biomass, renewable natural gas, and hydrogen as clean fuels, sparking objections by climate advocates. (Canary Media)
BUILDINGS: Maryland advocates say legislation passed this year slowing down implementation of clean building standards is “a significant setback” for the state. (Maryland Matters)
SOLAR:
STORAGE: The Rhode Island Energy Facility Siting Board rules it has jurisdiction over large battery storage developments, allowing it to overrule local permitting decisions for these projects. (RTO Insider, subscription)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
TIDAL POWER: Despite local objections, a proposed tidal power project in Maine receives a key early permit from federal regulators, resurrecting a nearly identical plan that fizzled out in 2016. (Bangor Daily News)
COMMENTARY:
GRID: The U.S. Energy Department will release a massive transmission study today that maps how the grid can be expanded to make way for more clean energy and shored up to withstand increasingly dangerous storms. (E&E News)
ALSO:
SOLAR: The U.S. Commerce Department says it will raise tariffs on solar imports from four southeast Asian countries, though it’s still determining how much those imports affect domestic manufacturing and how much to charge. (Utility Dive)
NUCLEAR: The owners of Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island nuclear plant are seeking a $1.6 billion, taxpayer-backed federal loan guarantee to help finance plans to restart its reactor and sell electricity to Microsoft. (Washington Post)
MINING: Companies running quartz mines in a small North Carolina town say they’re trying to restart operations, but say Helene’s damages to the mines and employees’ homes may hold them up, further stalling production of a critical semiconductor component. (CNN)
CARBON CAPTURE: A recent leak discovered at an Illinois carbon capture and storage well, and the lack of communication about the incident to the public, raises concerns from advocates about whether the technology is ready to be scaled up. (Inside Climate News)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
HYDROPOWER: A contractor completes the removal of four hydroelectric dams on the lower Klamath River in California and Oregon, giving fish free run of the stream for the first time in over a century. (Hydro Review)
This article was originally published by the New Jersey Monitor.
After a scorching summer that saw electricity bills soar, experts told lawmakers Wednesday that they should eschew costly utility mandates, invest in technology like carbon capture, and avoid shutting down power plants before replacement power sources are up and running.
Wednesday’s hearing of the Assembly’s utilities committee was called to address complaints from South Jersey residents about dramatic electric bill spikes, and it came in the midst of New Jersey’s push for broader electrification that could push power demand yet higher.
Jason Stanek, executive director of government services for PJM Interconnection, the grid operator for New Jersey and 12 other states, said New Jersey should not advance policies that shut down power sources unless they have replacements that are operating.
The state’s last two coal-fired power plants closed in 2022, and wind projects meant to boost its generation capacity have faced cost and other hurdles.
“To minimize rate impacts, we would respectfully request avoiding any policies that are designed to push resources off the system before we have an equal and equivalent amount of replacement resources,” Stanek said.
Swings in energy supply and demand can put pressure on rates, especially when supply falls as demand rises.
Stanek noted electricity prices at its annual July capacity auction surged nearly nine times higher than the previous year. Utilities procure electricity through the auction and sell it to ratepayers at cost but can generate a profit from transmission, among other things.
Rate Counsel Brian Lipman said the higher auction prices would add between $12 and $15 to customers’ monthly electricity bills beginning in June.
Improvements to energy efficiency had helped tamp down on demand for more electricity generation in recent decades, though that trend has since reversed, Board of Public Utilities President Christine Guhl-Sadovy told the committee.
Growing electrification, increased uptake in electric vehicles and their charges, and surging demand for data centers spurred by a boom in artificial intelligence are set to push New Jersey’s energy needs up significantly, said Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo (D-Mercer), the committee’s chairman.
“If you have a quick charging station, they use 100 amps. That’s the amount of power that’s in a small residential house,” said DeAngelo, an electrician by trade. “As we’re moving New Jersey across and increasing our bandwidth and the need for data — be mindful as AI is coming into the picture and becoming more prominent — one data center that they’re talking about building is going to need 800 (megawatts).”
That data center alone would consume nearly a quarter of the electricity produced by three nuclear power plants in South Jersey that, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, accounted for 43.5% of the state’s energy generation in 2022. Combined, the plants produce 3,457 megawatts of electricity.
Some suggested New Jersey’s ambitious renewable energy goals, which call for the state to draw 100% of its power from renewable sources by 2035, wouldn’t help the state meet electricity demand in the short run.
“We need to be moving towards that clean energy future, but we also need to be investing in some of the technologies of where we are today. There are technologies that can help out the use of natural gas, like carbon capture,” said Rich Henning, president and CEO of the New Jersey Utility Association.
Others suggested regulatory changes would push power prices down.
Lipman, the rate counsel, said changes to federal rules that would include more electric capacity in PJM auctions would push down rates, and he urged an end to legislative mandates that forced utilities to invest in infrastructure or raise other costs passed along to ratepayers, like a $300 million annual subsidy to the state’s nuclear plants that is due to lapse on June 1.
In New Jersey, most utilities can earn 9.6 cents for every dollar invested in addition to recouping their expenses. Those costs are typically borne by ratepayers.
“We’re forcing them to invest, and they’re not doing that for free. They’re coming back and they’re seeking their money,” Lipman said, adding new oversight of transmission could also control costs.
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