Good
morning! A
first-of-its-kind virtual power
plant is coming to Minnesota. Xcel
Energy will be the first utility
in the U.S. to build and operate
one of these grid-boosting
programs, though critics tell Jeff
St. John they’d prefer a
competitive, third-party-owned
alternative.
Meanwhile,
in Massachusetts, a local program
is running a clean energy
experiment of its own. It’s paying
nonprofits just to consider
installing solar panels, and then
helping them unlock more funding
if they decide to follow through,
Sarah
Shemkus reports.
Last
but not least: It’s
Canary Media’s birthday! Help us
keep our nonprofit operation
rolling with a
donation.
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ENERGY
SHOCK
-
The
U.S. and Iran agree to a
two-week ceasefire before
President Donald Trump’s
threats to attack power plants
and otherwise decimate Iranian
life come to fruition. (Politico)
-
The
ceasefire deal will let Iran
and Oman charge fees to ships
passing through the Strait of
Hormuz, though fossil fuel
price shakeups will take a
while to settle. (Associated
Press, Axios)
-
Skyrocketing
fossil fuel prices are driving
some U.S. state leaders to
propose rolling back climate
goals they inaccurately blame
for rising electricity prices.
(Bloomberg)
WIND
- The U.S. Interior
Department quietly fails to
appeal a court decision that
allowed work to restart on
offshore wind projects halted by
the administration, an omission
that could be an early sign of
hope for the industry, experts
say. (Grist)
NUCLEAR
-
The
DOE today will announce $135
million for fusion energy
research and development. (Axios)
-
Idaho,
Nebraska, Tennessee, and Utah
tell the federal government
they’re interested in hosting
nuclear energy projects,
including waste storage
facilities. (Axios)
PERMITTING
-
Wind
and solar developers have been
held up for nearly a year
because of the shutdown of a
federal government website
that helps identify endangered
species in a project area. (E&E
News)
-
Clean
energy advocates look to use
stalled onshore wind projects
as leverage as Congress
continues to debate permitting
reform. (E&E
News)
-
Congressional
Republicans say they won’t
turn to GOP-only
reconciliation legislation to
advance permitting reforms. (E&E
News)
SOLAR
- Maine Gov. Janet
Mills (D) signs a law allowing
residents to use small DIY
balcony solar systems that plug
into standard outlets. (Portland
Press-Herald)
OVERSIGHT
- The Tennessee
Valley Authority plans to move
quickly to replace retiring CEO
Don Moul, but could encounter
challenges due to President
Trump’s plan to cap salaries at
$500,000 — which amounts to a
more than 90% pay cut from what
Moul made. (Knoxville
News Sentinel,
E&E
News)
FOSSIL
FUELS
- An analysis
projects that Woodside’s $18
billion liquefied natural gas
facility under construction in
Louisiana will produce
substantially more greenhouse
gas emissions than any LNG port
that’s been built in the U.S.
and dozens that have been
proposed over the next decade. (Verite
News)
- Federal energy
regulators will investigate the
potential environmental impacts
of the revived Constitution
pipeline proposal, which would
carry natural gas from
Pennsylvania into New York. (E&E
News)
DATA
CENTERS
- Residents in a
small Wisconsin city vote to
restrict future data centers, a
relatively new approach by
opponents that the industry
fears could become more common
across the country. (Politico)
GRID
- Nine Midwest
utilities ask federal regulators
to suspend a policy requiring
competitive bidding for new
transmission projects, which
they argue will help solve
supply problems but critics say
stifles competition and will
raise prices. (E&E
News)
- Major grid
infrastructure upgrades are
needed to take full advantage of
vehicle-to-grid technology that
allows EVs to dispatch excess
power to the grid, a University
of Michigan researcher says.
(Grist)
|
Bridging
the Gap: Powering Economic
Growth Through Clean Energy
|
U.S.
electricity demand is rising at
its fastest pace in decades. As
data centers and electrification
drive load growth, renewables
are the only scalable near-term
solution. CG/ CRC-IB examines
what this means for M&A,
financing, and capital strategy.
|
Canary
Media is an
independent, nonprofit newsroom
covering the transition to clean
energy and solutions to the
climate crisis. Donate
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