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GRID: Virtual power plants, dynamic line ratings, and other advanced grid technologies could open up space on the grid for more electricity while staving off the need for costly, time-consuming transmission construction, a new U.S. Energy Department roadmap finds. (Canary Media)
ALSO:
EMISSIONS:
WIND: The world installed a record 117 GW of new wind power generation capacity last year, up 50% from the year before, a wind power advocacy group finds. (The Hill)
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: Black Americans are more likely than other racial groups to say they’re “very” or “fairly” concerned about pollution, and are more likely than White Americans to be displaced by environmental contamination, a survey finds. (The Hill)
CARBON CAPTURE: Illinois bills would add a series of restrictions on carbon sequestration and pipeline projects as developers seek to capitalize on the state’s geology and lucrative federal tax credits. (Energy News Network)
SOLAR:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Cities across the U.S. are building out electric vehicle charging networks to meet anticipated EV growth. (Utility Dive)
POLITICS: House Republican leaders are poised to cut a provision to reverse the Biden administration’s LNG permitting ban from critical foreign aid packages. (E&E News)
TRANSMISSION: A federal judge rejects tribal nations’ and advocates’ bid to halt work on a segment of the SunZia transmission project in a culturally and ecologically significant part of southern Arizona. (Associated Press)
MINING:
OIL & GAS:
CLIMATE:
WIND: A Colorado electric cooperative and wholesale power supplier agree to purchase the full output of a 200 MW wind facility in the eastern part of the state. (news release)
UTILITIES:
COAL:
GEOTHERMAL: The federal Bureau of Land Management plans to exempt some geothermal exploration projects from environmental reviews to expedite development. (E&E News, subscription; news release)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: An Arizona community college launches an electric vehicle technician training course. (news release)
COMMENTARY: Nevada advocates urge the federal Bureau of Land Management to push utility-scale solar projects toward low-conflict, previously disturbed public lands. (Nevada Independent)
Carbon dioxide pipeline and sequestration projects would face significant new scrutiny and regulations under proposed legislation introduced this week in Illinois.
Advocates who helped draft the proposal (SB 3930, HB 5814) say it is crucial to institute standards and protections, as multiple companies seek to sequester carbon in Illinois’ Mt. Simon sandstone geology and reap lucrative federal tax credits. The legislation was formally introduced Monday.
State lawmakers held a hearing earlier this month on separate bills (HB 4835, SB 3441) that would place a moratorium on carbon dioxide pipelines for four years or until new federal safety regulations are adopted by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).
Many Illinois residents and pipeline opponents are hoping both bills pass, to stop pipeline construction while the state studies safety issues, appropriate setbacks and other factors.
Companies seeking to sequester carbon dioxide in Illinois have so far failed to secure county approvals for proposed sites, and two major carbon dioxide pipeline proposals — from the companies Navigator CO2 Ventures and Wolf Carbon Solutions — were withdrawn from consideration by the Illinois Commerce Commission last year.
But Wolf is expected to refile its application for a necessary certificate of authority. And the commerce commission is currently considering a proposal from One Earth Energy for a six-mile pipeline that — if built — is expected to spur proposals for longer pipelines that would connect to it and a proposed sequestration site.
The newly proposed legislation, as described in a summary, includes: “pipeline setbacks for safe evacuation, limits on eminent domain, expanded monitoring at carbon sequestration sites, provisions for long-term liability in the event of disaster, a ban on the use of captured carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery.”
It would also mandate that when sequestration sites are proposed, regulatory agencies review life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions and consider alternatives to carbon sequestration. The legislation bans injecting carbon dioxide through the Mahomet Aquifer, labeled by the U.S. EPA as the area’s only sole-source aquifer. And it would mandate halts in sequestration if certain magnitudes of seismic activity are detected.
The bill would require the state to study appropriate setbacks from residences, businesses and infrastructure to protect from harm if a pipeline ruptures or leaks. Little or no government guidance or regulation currently exists on carbon dioxide pipeline setbacks, advocates note.
“There is not any federal law, any state law, nothing right now that says you cannot be located ‘x’ distance from people’s homes, schools, daycares,” said Jenny Cassel, an Earthjustice senior attorney involved in drafting the bill. “The problem is the federal government is never going to do it, because local zoning is not part of their purview.”
Pam Richart, a central Illinois resident and co-founder of the Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines, added that, “The proposed legislation would demand the state study setbacks based on how carbon dioxide behaves. If it were to rupture, where would it go?”
Cassel explained that once the study is done, the Illinois EPA would be tasked with developing routing standards and modeling criteria that a company must follow when applying for a pipeline route permit. Currently, no such requirement for a permit exists. Pipelines must receive a certificate of authority from the Illinois Commerce Commission, but the commission focuses largely on whether the pipeline would be in the public benefit.
“As long as we have this tax incentive that is dangling money in front of these companies, until they have a clear set of protections that makes them think twice about whether it really is worth it, or until the state of Illinois says ‘We’re not willing to take this risk,’” proposals will continue, Cassel said.
The legislation goes beyond similar bills introduced last year and would mandate extensive research and state permitting be done before a company can apply to the Illinois Commerce Commission for a certificate.
Currently there are no requirements that companies create or release models showing how a carbon dioxide plume would likely spread in case of a rupture. The new bill would require such modeling for a necessary Illinois EPA permit. And it would mandate companies put up funds for future cleanup and maintenance of sequestration sites.
“Industry is trying to hand the keys to the state as soon as they’re done and say, ‘Good luck with that,’” Cassel said. “We think Illinois already has enough Superfund sites, mines, wells, all sorts of other environmental hazards that need to be reclaimed. We need to set aside real cash to address if something goes wrong.”
She stressed that unlike in other geologies, carbon dioxide will likely remain gaseous and unstable in the state’s sandstone formation. This could especially be a concern if new injection wells are added for expanded sequestration, she said.
“The more you mess with an underground formation, the more you’re creating the possibility the plume is going to be shifted underground,” Cassel said. “If you change pressure over here, there’s a decrease in pressure in the same underground formation. It’s not like you can count on the pressure remaining the same over time.”
In recent years, companies including One Earth and Navigator have applied for pipeline permits without having secured rights for a place to sequester the carbon dioxide.
Obtaining necessary permission from landowners and local county boards has proved difficult. Navigator offered to pay county boards for help facilitating their sequestration applications, but multiple boards turned them down.
The state’s Renewable Fuels Association, a trade group representing ethanol producers, did not respond to requests for comment. One Earth Energy also did not respond.
“Industry needs legislation,” said Richart. “They can’t move forward without addressing the regulatory gaps that exist for ownership and utilization of pore space.”
In 2011, Illinois passed a law to facilitate the construction of carbon dioxide pipelines and sequestration, and specifically to facilitate the proposed FutureGen project, a multibillion-dollar effort to store carbon dioxide underground at the site of a Meredosia, Illinois, coal plant.
That law says in part: “carbon dioxide pipelines are critical to the promotion and use of Illinois coal,” and are “a benefit to the welfare of Illinois.”
The FutureGen project died in 2015, but the law continues to be the only specific state guidance on carbon dioxide sequestration and transport.
The pipelines recently proposed in the state are primarily linked to ethanol plants. But carbon dioxide pipelines are also increasingly likely to be proposed to sequester carbon dioxide from the production of “blue hydrogen” — made from natural gas — since the federal government is offering lucrative tax incentives for hydrogen and $1 billion for a Midwestern hydrogen hub.
Kathy Campbell, an audiologist and professor emeritus at Southern Illinois University, testified before the commerce commission regarding the proposed Wolf, Navigator and One Earth pipelines.
The Navigator pipeline would have passed right through Campbell’s land in central Illinois. Though that proposal was canceled in the wake of massive public opposition and skepticism from the commerce commission, Campbell feels this is only the beginning of a carbon dioxide rush.
“I won’t feel real comfortable until we get some legislation passed,” Campbell said. “We need our moratorium bill, and we need more study.”
Yet another Illinois bill (SB 2860), backed by the Illinois Farm Bureau, would prohibit the use of eminent domain to secure carbon dioxide pipeline rights of way. Illinois farmers are worried about their land being seized through eminent domain for pipelines.Industry players with interests in carbon dioxide transport and sequestration meanwhile are backing a bill (HB 0569) that would allow sequestration operators to use underground pore space even if landowners are opposed, while setting procedures for land access and compensation for damage to land.
When you hear “geothermal,” what comes to mind?
Maybe it’s bubbling hot springs in Yellowstone, or that one volcano in Iceland that won’t stop erupting. (It still is, I checked).
Either way, it’s probably a massive field of heat and steam that you’d rather observe from afar, and not something you’d want in your backyard or the alleyway next to your apartment.
But a new generation of heat pumps are taking advantage of the Earth’s heat to both warm and cool big buildings and whole neighborhoods, no volcanoes required. Ground-source heat pumps work similarly to electric air-source heat pumps, which transfer heat in and out of a room to warm or cool it without need for fossil fuels, but find a more powerful and reliable source of heat in the Earth.
And they’re already taking off. Minnesota is piloting networked geothermal systems to keep government buildings, housing developments and schools warm through the winter and cool in the summer. A Chicago neighborhood wants to connect more than 100 homes to a networked system, squeezing boreholes in the alleys between buildings. And a Massachusetts gas utility has already unveiled networked geothermal in a Boston-area neighborhood, and is looking to repurpose existing infrastructure for future projects.
Despite their potential to slash emissions and low operating costs, for now, geothermal heat-pump systems remain too expensive for most homeowners and to install. But they’ve still got potential as a way to repurpose oil and gas drilling equipment and infrastructure, and could help pave a new, zero-emission path forward for the fossil fuel industry.
— Kathryn Krawczyk
🚗 EVs go farther: While the average electric vehicle today gets the equivalent of 106 miles per gallon, new technology could double that number to more than 200 in the coming decades, a report suggests. (Washington Post)
🏭 Questioning a gas buildout: Utilities across the Southeast want to build new natural gas-fired power plants to meet escalating power demand, even though advocates say clean energy and battery storage can handle the job. (Canary Media)
🔌Grid waitlist grows: About 2.6 TW of power projects — 95% of them solar, battery and wind developments — were waiting to connect to the U.S. grid at the end of last year, up 27% from the year before. (Utility Dive)
🍳 Electrification’s still simmering: Clean energy advocates and professional cooks continue to work to electrify restaurant kitchens and homes in Berkeley, California, even after a court shot down the city’s natural gas-hookup ban. (Guardian)
💵 Cleaner for cheaper: The U.S. Interior Department finalizes a rule that will cut fees as much as 80% for solar and wind projects on federal land as it celebrates a milestone of permitting more than 25 GW of renewable projects under President Biden. (The Hill, Reuters)
📄 Getting clean energy to tribes: An Indigenous researcher says tribes need application support, better access to information, and resources to build better infrastructure, in addition to funding to adopt clean energy. (Grist)
📦 Prime charging: Amazon has installed more than 17,000 electric vehicle chargers at its warehouses over the last two years, making it the biggest U.S. private charging operator as it easily surpasses competitors’ clean vehicle goals. (Bloomberg)
🧩 Steel the deal: Experts discuss the pitfalls and potential for green hydrogen to clean up the emissions-heavy steelmaking industry. (Canary Media)
SOLAR: Connecticut’s governor wants to allow the state’s schools to quadruple their solar panel use over the next few years by no longer holding them to an annual solar installation cap. (CT Post)
ALSO:
OFFSHORE WIND:
POLICY: A panel of energy experts says New York can’t meet its goal of achieving 70% renewable energy by 2030, citing a lack of available labor, the stakeholder process and insufficient transmission capacity. (RTO Insider, subscription)
EMISSIONS: New Jersey environment officials say the state’s net greenhouse gas emissions in 2021 were equivalent to 1.7% of the entire country’s gross emissions. (NJ Spotlight)
STORAGE: A new report from a coalition of public agencies finds four-hour battery storage projects would perform better than two-hour storage and new fossil fuel-fired peaker plants, factoring in air pollution, emissions and overall cost. (RTO Insider, subscription)
GRID: Constellation Energy is among those asking federal energy regulators to stick with the original results of PJM Interconnection’s last base capacity auction, but Maryland and Delaware commissioners and public advocates say doing so would more than double capacity costs in their zone. (Utility Dive)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
TRANSIT: In New York, a Republican lawmaker pushes his colleagues to repeal the Manhattan congestion toll pricing plan, slated to go into effect in two months despite confusion over who gets tolled and when. (NBC New York, Gothamist)
UTILITIES:
NUCLEAR: North Dakota officials say nuclear power may provide a long-term solution to help meet the state’s growing power demand as coal plants retire. (Prairie Public)
SOLAR:
EFFICIENCY: Wisconsin regulators will soon face decisions about how to structure $146 million in federally funded rebate programs for energy efficiency and electrification. (Capital Times)
UTILITIES:
CLEAN ENERGY: The school board in Madison, Wisconsin, sets a net-zero emissions goal by 2045, overriding a previous goal of using 100% renewable energy by 2040. (Wisconsin State Journal)
PIPELINES:
OIL & GAS: Industry groups in North Dakota claim the Biden administration’s plan to increase royalty fees and leasing rates for drilling on federal land to prevent well abandonment attempts to address a problem that doesn’t exist. (KFYR)
HYDROPOWER: University of Wisconsin researchers aim to boost the efficiency of hydropower turbines with a new method that limits problems caused by low water pressure. (Spectrum News)
COMMENTARY: An author and longtime nuclear energy reporter says a plan to restart a Michigan nuclear plant would waste billions of dollars when building out renewables would be a far better option. (Detroit Free Press)
Thanks to a new infusion of state funding, three projects benefiting traditionally under-resourced Black, Brown and Indigenous communities in the greater Chicago area have taken one important step closer to fruition.
Last week, the Illinois Climate Bank unanimously passed a resolution to authorize loan funds of up to $1.6 million for three community-based solar projects owned by Green Energy Justice Cooperative, launched in 2022 by Blacks in Green (BIG). This increases the total funding to $2.9 million for GEJC’s community solar projects, a portion of which is privately funded.
The money will be devoted to the pre-development phase of the project, including public outreach, an interconnection study, and a deposit for renewable energy credits awarded through the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), said Naomi Davis, founder and CEO of Blacks in Green.
“Our $2.9 million in predevelopment costs include payments to our electric utility, ComEd — fees to connect our solar system to their grid and a 5% down payment for our renewable energy credits — like buying a house, you have the financing and the down payment,” Davis said.
“The sweet spot of this pre-development funding is what we invest in building relationships, educating them about the power of cooperative ownership and management, and collaborating with them to build a clean energy economy right where they live,” she said. “We’ve got two years before we flip the switch and start monthly savings and clean energy comfort… and between now and then we’ll be enrolling thousands of community subscribers in conversations for organizing, training and hopefully inspiring them.”
Energy self-sufficiency is one of the eight key principles of BIG’s Sustainable Square Mile concept, which the organization aims to replicate around the country.
“We say communities should own, develop, and manage their land and energy, and with our $10 million EPA Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center (TCTAC) award, BIG is offering free/open source access to our energy justice portfolio, which includes this 9 MW solar project and community geothermal and wind,” said Davis in a news release.
“With our energy affordability bill before the Illinois General Assembly, and our energy auditing workforce launching this summer, we aim to connect the dots of community-driven, community-scale energy solutions for low and moderate-income communities across America.”
In December 2023, the Illinois Power Agency recommended awarding the three solar projects, valued at $25.7 million, with $12.5 million in renewable energy credits. The three projects, located in Aurora, Naperville, and Romeoville, Illinois, would each generate 3 megawatts. Once completed, they will provide the dual benefit of lowering the disproportionate energy burden in BIPOC and low-income households, while providing a community stake in clean energy generation.
“When this project is completed over the next couple of years, it will be the largest non-governmental, non-utility, minority-community-owned solar project in Illinois. And as such, it will be the fulfillment of years of dreams and work by our Green Energy Justice Cooperative, to share middle-class jobs and wealth-building with historically deprived and distressed individuals and families throughout this area.” said Rev. Tony Pierce, GEJC board member and CEO of Sun Bright Energy, in a news release.
“In doing so, it will be the beginning of lifting these kinds of individuals and families from the bottom of our economic pyramid into the middle class,” Pierce said. “And it will therefore be the beginning of bringing some closure to the Black and White wealth gap that exists in metro Chicago; in addition to reducing the carbon footprint in our area, to reduce climate change.”
For Davis, this level of recognition and financial support reflects more than a decade of advocacy and effort to ensure energy independence for her community of West Woodlawn on Chicago’s South Side – and beyond.
“The cooperative (GEJC) that we organized and funded fits in with our overall mission because we have, as a stated pillar of our work [intend] to increase the rate at which neighbor-owned businesses are created and sustained,” Davis told the Energy News Network in December.
“We understand that the number one employer of Black folks in America is Black folks in America. And we are very committed in our understanding of the whole-system problem common to Black communities everywhere, that we are committed to being a solution.”
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Amazon has installed more than 17,000 electric vehicle chargers at its warehouses over the last two years, making it the biggest U.S. private charging operator as it easily surpasses competitors’ clean vehicle goals. (Bloomberg)
ALSO:
OIL & GAS:
GEOTHERMAL: Geothermal has the potential to be a reliable, zero-emission source of energy that’s a natural transition from oil and gas drilling, experts say, if political tensions don’t derail its takeoff. (The Hill)
EFFICIENCY:
STORAGE: Dominion Energy sends a 1.5 MW metal-hydrogen battery to the historically Black Virginia State University to power a venue and become part of a hands-on laboratory and research project for its engineering program. (Energy News Network)
EQUITY:
CLIMATE:
SOLAR: California lawmakers introduce bills aimed at mitigating the effects of or revoking recent state policies slashing incentives for rooftop and community solar. (Canary Media)
OIL & GAS: The Biden administration finalizes rules raising royalty rates and reclamation bond amounts for oil and gas drilling on federal land, drawing mixed reactions from industry and advocates. (High Country News)
ALSO: Arguments begin in New Mexico advocates’ lawsuit accusing the state’s fossil fuel-friendly policies of failing to protect residents from oil and gas pollution. (NM Political Report)
TRANSITION:
SOLAR:
UTILITIES:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A California startup trains workers and develops software aimed at facilitating public electric vehicle charger maintenance and repair. (Los Angeles Times)
ELECTRIFICATION: Colorado launches an online calculator aimed at helping residents navigate home electrification incentives. (CPR)
TRANSPORTATION:
NUCLEAR: Federal regulators deny a developer’s claims they had greenlit a proposed nuclear microreactor project in Montana. (Billings Gazette)
COAL: Investors look to use coal from a Wyoming mine as feedstock for manufacturing cosmetics and fertilizer, as well as other non-combustion applications. (Cowboy State Daily)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Indiana officials say a pilot highway construction project that charges electric vehicles as they drive has the potential to spur greater adoption and change how the public thinks about EVs. (Inside Climate News)
ALSO: Cedar Rapids, Iowa, seeks federal funding to replace five diesel buses in its transportation fleet with hybrid diesel-electric models. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
OHIO: Lt. Gov. Jon Husted refuses to say whether he knew about a $1 million contribution in 2017 from FirstEnergy to a political group that supported his campaign for governor. (Ohio Capital Journal)
UTILITIES: Proposed legislation in Illinois would subject municipal power agencies to more state oversight and require integrated resource planning as companies face growing scrutiny over large coal portfolios. (Daily Herald)
SOLAR:
POLITICS:
GRID:
PIPELINES: Four Great Lakes tribes urge a Michigan appeals court to overturn state regulators’ approval of a permit allowing Enbridge to build an underwater tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac to house Line 5. (E&E News, subscription)
COAL: Michigan regulators block a utility from recovering more than $1 million in excess charges from unprofitable coal plants owned by the Ohio Valley Electric Corp., in contrast to Ohio regulators’ approach. (Checks & Balances Project)
NUCLEAR: The lengthy outage of a Minnesota nuclear plant late last year occurred after Xcel Energy workers drilled through cables that interrupted power to equipment, the utility disclosed to federal regulators. (Star Tribune)
COMMENTARY: A Wisconsin conservative group says recent polling indicates strong support for clean energy among young rural voters, a key demographic that will be crucial for future GOP success in elections. (Journal Sentinel)
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