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CLEAN ENERGY: The Biden administration says it has handed out $100 billion in Inflation Reduction Act grants, and is on track to allocate more than 80% of available funds by the time President-elect Trump takes office. (Reuters)
ALSO:
UTILITIES:
GRID:
OFFSHORE WIND:
LITHIUM: California environmental justice advocates call on lithium extraction firms in the Imperial Valley to sign legally binding agreements to provide local jobs, protect health and the environment and respect tribal nations’ rights. (KPBS)
OIL & GAS: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch recuses himself from a case related to a proposed Utah oil-hauling rail line following criticism of his ties to Colorado petroleum magnate Philip Anschutz. (CNN)
CLIMATE: Experts say climate change contributed heavily to rising inflation in the last two years, as extreme weather shut down oil refineries and compromised food production. (Grist)
This article was originally published by Floodlight.
A small town in North Carolina has taken a bold step, filing the first climate “deception” lawsuit against an electric utility in the United States.
In a civil lawsuit, the Town Council of Carrboro accuses Duke Energy, one of the largest power companies in the United States, of orchestrating a decades-long campaign of denialism and cover up over the dangers of fossil fuel emissions. The lawsuit claims Duke’s actions stalled the transition to clean energy and exacerbated the climate crisis.
Over the past decade, similar suits have been filed by states and communities against large oil companies and — in at least one instance — a gas utility. But Carrboro, N.C., is the first municipality to ever file such a suit against an electric utility.
“We’re a very bold group,” Carrboro Mayor Barbara Foushee told Floodlight. “And we know how urgent this climate crisis is.”
Duke Energy said in a statement, “We are in the process of reviewing the complaint. Duke Energy is committed to its customers and communities and will continue working with policymakers and regulators to deliver reliable and increasingly clean energy while keeping rates as low as possible.”
The suit, filed in Orange County, North Carolina, accuses Duke Energy of intentionally spreading false information about the negative effects of fossil fuels for decades, despite knowing since the late 1960s about planet-warming properties of carbon dioxide emissions. It claims the power company funded trade organizations and climate skeptic scientists who created doubts about the greenhouse effect and obstructed policy and public action on climate change.
“Duke misled the public concerning the causes and consequences of climate change and thereby materially slowed the transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy. Duke’s deception campaign served to protect its fossil fuel-based business model.” the lawsuit reads.
It accuses the power company, which in 2019 was the third largest emitter of C02 in the United States, of falsely marketing itself as a leader in clean energy while continuing to rely heavily on fossil fuels.
Between 2005 and 2023, the company reported reducing its CO2 emissions from electricity generation by 44%. But in 2023, at least 45% of the electricity Duke produced was still generated by burning coal or methane gas.
“(Duke) was one of the ringleaders behind deceiving the public and municipalities and governments about the causes and consequences of manmade climate change,” said Raleigh attorney Matthew Quinn, who is representing the town.
Carrboro is a town of about 20,000 with an annual budget of $81 million, Foushee said. Quinn, the attorney, estimates the town will incur some $60 million in costs in adapting to climate change impacts, including repairs to roads, upgrades to stormwater systems and increased heating and cooling costs.
At a press conference Wednesday, Quinn explained that expert analysts had arrived at that number based on the amount and cost of climate adaptation that Carrboro would have undertaken had it not been for Duke’s alleged deception.
“There’s a major gulf between where we should be at and where we are right now,” Quinn said at the press conference.
“Really, what this case is about is that Carrboro has been a victim of the climate deception campaign by Duke Energy, (and) as a result of Duke’s conduct, Carrboro has suffered a lot of damages and injustice,” Quinn said in an interview.
Added Danny Nowell, Carrboro Mayor pro tem: “We have paid for it. We have paid for excess road repairs. We have faced the effects of stormwater, and we will continue to pay for other expenses as we uncover them. It’s time for Carrboro to be repaid.”
Quinn’s fees are being paid by NC Warn, a climate nonprofit, Foushee said.
“People that run local governments and others and people that run corporations, they all better get heavily serious about the climate crisis,” said Jim Warren, executive director of NC Warn. “It’s already harming so many across this state.”
Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University, called such lawsuits “cute.”
“And I use that term very, you know, intentionally. These lawsuits are cute in the sense that they’re trying to shame companies … into doing better,” said Jarvis, adding that they are rarely successful. “Companies have duties to their shareholders to maximize profits. And so what these lawsuits are really saying is that companies should be punished for maximizing profit.”
“It’s interesting with this as a case directly against a utility,” said Korey Silverman-Roati, a senior fellow at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. “It’s a shift in perspective from companies just producing fossil fuels to those burning it.”
Although this is the first climate deception lawsuit ever filed against an electric utility, it is not the first time that electric utilities have found themselves in legal trouble for the climate warming pollution their power plants spew as they burn fossil fuels to generate electricity.
In 2004, electric companies faced federal litigation brought by eight U.S. states, New York City and several land trusts seeking to cap the companies’ CO2 emissions. The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled against the plaintiffs.
Floodlight is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates the powerful interests stalling climate action.
OFFSHORE WIND: A planned 114-turbine wind farm off Maryland receives final federal approval, but still faces local opposition and likely hostility from President-elect Donald Trump. (Maryland Matters)
RENEWABLES: New York state executes contracts for 23 renewable energy projects expected to reduce emissions by 2.3 million metric tons annually. (Renewable Energy Magazine)
BATTERIES: A company making zinc-based, long-duration batteries will use a $300 million federal loan guarantee to expand its Pennsylvania manufacturing facility to address a backlog of orders. (Utility Dive)
SOLAR:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The Canadian company that supplied electric school buses causing problems for several Maine school districts is on the brink of bankruptcy. (Portland Press Herald, subscription)
EMISSIONS: The company that owns the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, which is looking to restart to sell power to Microsoft, routinely ranks among the U.S. power producers generating the lowest carbon emissions. (The Well)
EFFICIENCY: An affordable housing project in New Haven, Connecticut, includes $900,000 to complete energy efficiency retrofits for 30 existing homes in the neighborhood of the new units. (Connecticut Public Radio)
ELECTRIFICATION: New York launches a $10 million program to help advance cold-climate heat pump technology by funding manufacturers developing the products and field demonstration projects in large buildings. (Facility Executive)
COMMENTARY:
EFFICIENCY: A Michigan-based startup fabricating vacuum-insulated glass for highly efficient windows has opened a new manufacturing plant and secured nearly $83 million in capital and grants to scale up. (Canary Media)
TRANSPORTATION: Environmental advocates and health professionals call on Illinois regulators to adopt stricter tailpipe emission rules for cars and trucks that are modeled off of California’s and exceed national standards. (Chicago Tribune)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
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CARBON CAPTURE: A $2 billion carbon capture project at a North Dakota coal plant has been delayed after a key sponsor backs out and financing remains unclear. (E&E News, subscription)
UTILITIES: Investor-owned utilities in Indiana are seeking significant rate increases the “likes of which we’ve never seen,” consumer advocates say, to pay for clean energy and grid infrastructure upgrades. (Post-Tribune)
BIOFUELS: A Colorado power plant fueled by shredded beetle-killed trees shuts down, putting wildfire mitigation efforts on hold and raising questions about the viability of biofuel-generated electricity. (Colorado Sun)
SOLAR:
GEOTHERMAL: A Nevada gold mine considers adding geothermal generation to an existing natural gas plant in an effort to decarbonize its operations. (news release)
EFFICIENCY: An Alaska-backed housing lender offers $10,000 rebates for new energy-efficient homes. (Alaska Public Media)
UTILITIES:
CLIMATE: Climate change-exacerbated extreme heat adds urgency to efforts to bring electricity to some 13,000 off-grid Navajo Nation homes. (KUNR)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: California startup Aptera launches a crowdfunding campaign to bring its solar-powered electric vehicle to production. (Inside EVs)
BATTERIES: A California startup plans to begin manufacturing lithium-sulfur batteries at its Bay Area facility next year, saying they are cheaper and require less mined material than lithium-ion ones. (Heatmap)
TRANSITION: Los Angeles County votes to develop a plan aimed at helping displaced workers and communities weather Phillips 66’s petroleum refinery’s planned 2025 closure. (Daily Breeze)
TRANSPORTATION: Colorado officials expect a proposal to extend a passenger rail line to the northwestern part of the state will survive the incoming Trump administration’s funding cuts. (Aspen Times)
POLITICS: U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, of Arizona, steps down as the House Natural Resources Committee’s ranking Democrat, which oversees energy development and mining on federal lands. (Arizona Capitol Times)
COMMENTARY:
Charlotte, North Carolina, may soon get access to a new tool to deploy in its push toward 100% clean power: data.
The Tar Heel state’s largest city aims to power all government operations with carbon-free electricity by the end of the decade, including the city-owned Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, one of the busiest in the world.
But the hub is a big question mark for the city’s climate target. Officials don’t actually know how much energy it uses — or how much renewable energy they need to offset it — because the utility bills for the five-terminal airport are paid by dozens of individual customers, from Cinnabon to Jamba Juice to airline club lounges.
Now, after a decade of urging by Charlotte and others, Duke Energy has a proposal to change that: an eight-page plan for improved data access that has sign-off from the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association; Public Staff, the state-sanctioned customer advocate; and Dominion Energy, which serves the northeast corner of the state.
Filed last month with regulators for approval, Duke’s proposed rules could have wide application, said Ethan Blumenthal, regulatory counsel for the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association.
“For municipalities applying for federal grants, large customers pursuing energy efficiency, and homeowners and solar companies that are trying to right-size solar installations,” Blumenthal said, “this access to data is essential.”
The Charlotte airport is a prime example of one hurdle facing local communities with climate goals. Today, getting total energy usage data for government-owned buildings with multiple meters means reaching out to individual tenants to get permission to access their accounts.
“It would be a very laborious process to do that at the airport and anywhere else we have tenants,” said Aaron Tauber, Charlotte’s sustainability analyst.
The problem extends to private building owners who aim to reduce their carbon footprints or improve efficiency but don’t have insight into their renters’ energy consumption. Honeywell, for instance, is a partner in the city’s “Power Down the Crown” initiative, whereby building managers look to reduce energy use by optimizing efficiency.
“They don’t own all of the data,” Tauber said. “They have tenants in their properties. So, they don’t have visibility to the entire building’s energy use.”
The new rule will allow a large user, from Honeywell to Charlotte, to access aggregated data for a large building with multiple tenants by request to Duke, so long as at least 15 individual accounts are involved, and none consumes more than 15% of the building’s energy use.
“Being a larger city, we do have a lot of large buildings with multiple tenants,” said Tauber. “I’m just really excited for these building owners to really — for the first time — gain an understanding of how their buildings are using energy.”
That understanding, he said, is critical for commercial properties to access a new law that allows them to borrow public money for energy efficiency upgrades and pay it back on their property tax bills.
“Being able to unlock a financing mechanism based on this data will really go a long way for the city to be able to meet our strategic energy action goal of being a low-carbon community,” said Tauber.
The data access rule also applies to a census block, zip code, or other area with at least 15 accounts, which will help local governments meet community-wide climate goals.
“You can use the aggregated data to make good decisions for program design, and where you might want to target,” said Ann Livingston, senior executive and director of programs with the Southeast Sustainability Directors Network. “You can assess: is this particular block or neighborhood really using a lot more energy per house per square foot than others?”
Durham County, for instance, together with neighboring Granville and Orange counties, has a $1.5 million federal grant to help low-income homeowners cut their energy use through weatherization and other upgrades.
“We want to focus in areas where there’s a higher energy use or higher energy burden,” said Tobin Freid, the county’s sustainability manager. “We’d like information at a more granular level than just the county.”
If the new Duke rule is approved, it will also help county officials better tailor the program to individual households and assess its impacts. The proposal would ease the approval process for allowing third-party access to data and ensure that at least two years of prior energy use is included.
“For every home that we work on, we would need historic data to see: what was your energy use before?” Freid said.
Both the aggregated data and third-party access provisions will also be critical for federal programs like Solar for All, aimed at deploying rooftop solar on low-income households.
“Often, those federal funding opportunities require you to assess and report on energy impact,” said Livingston. “Solar for All will be a very clear example of this, where you need to report energy savings for individual participants.”
Apart from the sustainability goals, government officials also have a commitment to manage public dollars efficiently, Livingston noted. That’s especially pertinent for large energy users like Durham County, who may pay a higher “demand charge” for a single 30-minute spike in energy use. Large customers with net-metered solar power also pay more during times of peak demand.
The proposed rules will help solve these challenges by allowing third parties access to machine-readable, easily analyzed data for customers of all sizes. The format would essentially meet national “Green Button” standards, one familiar to the many companies around the country dedicated to managing building energy performance.
The Green Button initiative, a project of the U.S. Department of Energy that originated in Canada, has been around for over a decade – about as long as the Sustainable Energy Association has been advocating for improved customer data access, along with counties like Durham.
But the issue seems to have gained new steam in recent months, as local governments look to take advantage of new federal grants and laws aimed at reducing climate pollution.
What’s more, Blumenthal said, Duke has pledged to implement the rules within 18 months of their approval and help expedite any data requests in the interim.
“There is a commitment to doing everything they can, essentially, to provide data for federal funding purposes up until [the proposal] is fully implemented,” Blumenthal said. “A commitment to try to bridge the gap.”
Asked what prompted the agreement with Blumenthal’s group and others after all this time, Duke spokesperson Logan Stewart said over email:
“A lot has changed in the last decade from a technology, cybersecurity, and customer engagement perspective that made this stipulation possible. Duke Energy is always looking for ways to collaborate with stakeholders to achieve outcomes that benefit customers.”
EMISSIONS: The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative offers a model of successful state-led action on decarbonization, and is considering ways to expand participation as President-elect Trump pledges to roll back federal climate policies. (Energy News Network)
ALSO: In its push to go fossil fuel-free by 2050, Harvard University has more than tripled its sustainability fund to $37 million and entered a new renewable energy partnership with other Boston-area institutions. (Inside Climate News)
TRANSMISSION: An $11 billion project intended to bring 3.8 GW of renewable energy to New York City from the upstate area has been canceled with no explanation. (RTO Insider, subscription)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
WIND:
GRID: Maryland launches a $15 million grant program aimed at strengthening the state’s “battered” grid and preparing the system to better accommodate clean energy resources. (Utility Dive)
SOLAR: Massachusetts utilities regulators issue two orders that will allow more small solar developments to use net metering and make it easier for multifamily buildings to take advantage of the program. (Fall River Reporter)
BATTERIES:
AFFORDABILITY: A new report finds that 100,000 Maine households have trouble paying their energy bills, in part because of competitive suppliers charging more than public utilities. (Maine Morning Star)
GRID: A $4.9 billion federal loan guarantee for a major Midwest transmission project faces uncertainty about whether the Trump administration will follow through with the commitment. (Canary Media)
ALSO: Four business groups call on Iowa regulators to enact ratemaking reforms that ensure utilities make necessary grid investments over the coming decades with limited effects on customers. (Radio Iowa)
CLEAN ENERGY: Congressional Republicans consider scaling back or eliminating a U.S. Department of Energy loan program that has backed a variety of U.S. clean energy projects with billions of dollars in financing. (E&E News)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
CARBON CAPTURE: Wolf Carbon Solutions withdraws its permit application in Iowa for a 95-mile carbon pipeline project that would sequester emissions in Illinois. (Des Moines Register)
SOLAR:
OVERSIGHT: North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who’s been tapped to lead the Interior Department as well as serve as the Trump administration’s energy czar, could play an outsized role in federal energy policy. (E&E News)
OIL & GAS: North Dakota’s Senate Majority Leader says cost barriers remain to building a $250 million pipeline under a public-private partnership that would deliver Bakken-area gas to other parts of the state. (Prairie Public)
EFFICIENCY: A Minneapolis nonprofit is leading the construction of passive homes on the city’s north side that aim to save homeowners with minimal electric and heating bills. (Sahan Journal)
CLEAN ENERGY: While the Project 2025 policy blueprint calls for eliminating the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office, Republican lawmakers are uncertain, with some saying the program, which turned a profit last year, could be retooled to emphasize energy sources like nuclear that are favored by conservatives. (E&E News, New York Times archive)
ALSO:
EQUITY: Advocates say anticipated Trump administration climate rollbacks, particularly the expected elimination of the Justice40 initiative, will hit Black communities especially hard. (Capital B News)
EMISSIONS: The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative offers a model of successful state-led action on decarbonization, and is considering ways to expand participation as Trump pledges to roll back federal climate policies. (Energy News Network)
STORAGE: Duke Energy moves to demolish the final units of a former coal plant in North Carolina and replace it with a 167 MW battery storage facility, marking a step toward renewables even though the utility still plans to build gas-fired power elsewhere. (Canary Media)
WIND: A federal agency identifies environmental measures it will likely take in a group of six offshore wind lease areas off New York, pushing ahead despite Trump’s claims he will stop offshore wind development. (Maritime Executive)
NUCLEAR: A Tennessee city that’s historically been a hotspot for nuclear research is seeing a resurgence of interest from companies eager to take part in a new “nuclear renaissance.” (Knoxville News Sentinel)
PIPELINES: Whistleblowers warn the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is “putting profit over safety” by largely relying on private inspectors hired by pipeline companies to monitor compliance with safety rules. (E&E News)
COAL: Wyoming and Montana join a lawsuit accusing three investment firms of following a “climate activist agenda” by colluding to acquire large stakes in publicly held coal companies and forcing the firms to slash Powder River Basin mine production. (Cowboy State Daily)
EFFICIENCY: A Minneapolis nonprofit is leading the construction of passive homes on the city’s north side that aim to save homeowners with minimal electric and heating bills. (Sahan Journal)
COMMENTARY: A Western journalist says the incoming Trump administration’s pro-drilling agenda will harm the environment while doing little to bolster oil and gas production — which reached record levels under Biden. (Land Desk)
COAL: Wyoming and Montana join a lawsuit accusing three investment firms of following a “climate activist agenda” by colluding to acquire large stakes in publicly held coal companies and forcing the firms to slash Powder River Basin mine production. (Cowboy State Daily)
OIL & GAS: Petroleum firms appeal a court order barring the federal Bureau of Land Management from issuing drilling permits for a Wyoming oil and gas project. (E&E News, subscription)
SOLAR:
BIOFUELS: Advocates push back on California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to expand ethanol-blending in gasoline, saying it is unlikely to lower fuel prices and could have environmental impacts in corn-growing regions. (Inside Climate News)
UTILITIES:
CLIMATE: Portland, Oregon, officials launch an online climate dashboard allowing residents to track local greenhouse gas emissions and local progress toward decarbonization targets. (OPB)
OVERSIGHT: California Gov. Gavin Newsom asks state lawmakers to allocate $25 million to fund litigation defending state climate, environmental and other progressive policies from the incoming Trump administration’s expected challenges. (Los Angeles Times)
MINING: A southeastern Utah copper mine lays off more than 55% of its workforce as it moves forward on a “significant restructuring effort.” (San Juan Record News)
PUBLIC LANDS: Wyoming advocates worry the incoming Republican-dominated Congress will overturn the Biden administration’s plan to tighten oil and gas drilling rules on 3.6 million acres of public land in the southwestern part of the state. (WyoFile)
COMMENTARY:
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