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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: California’s energy commission votes to invest $1.4 billion in an emissions-free transportation plan that includes installing nearly 17,000 electric vehicle charging stations and hydrogen fueling infrastructure. (Utility Dive)
ALSO:
COAL: Wyoming and Montana file a lawsuit seeking to overturn the federal Bureau of Land Management’s ban on new coal leasing in the Powder River Basin, even though mining wouldn’t be affected until at least 2041 at the current rate of production. (WyoFile)
OIL & GAS:
CARBON CAPTURE: A firm proposes installing modular natural gas generating units with up to 1,000 MW of capacity in northern California using technology designed to capture all atmospheric emissions. (Power)
SOLAR: A developer begins construction on a 475 MW solar-plus-storage installation in northern Arizona near a coal plant slated to retire next year. (AZ Family)
TRANSITION: Colorado officials and advocates work to equitably transition an oil and gas-producing county to clean energy and other industries. (Aspen Journalism)
STORAGE: Data show California added 6,000 MWh of new grid-scale battery energy storage during the third quarter of 2024. (Solar Power World)
UTILITIES:
GRID:
WIND: Opponents of the recently greenlit Lava Ridge wind facility in southern Idaho consider waiting until President-elect Trump takes office to file a lawsuit seeking to reverse the federal approval. (Idaho Statesman)
COMMENTARY: Alaska is disproportionately struggling with the effects of climate change, an ocean advocate argues, and Trump’s efforts to open up the state’s oil and gas to extraction will only make matters worse. (Los Angeles Times)
This story was originally published by Canary Media.
California has long led the way on electric vehicles, but another Western state is challenging the Golden State’s top spot.
Between July and September, nearly 25 percent of the vehicles registered in Colorado were electric or plug-in hybrids. In California, that figure was just over 24 percent. It’s not enough to crown Colorado the new undisputed leader in EVs, but it’s a notable milestone — no other state has ever surpassed California in terms of EV registrations, according to James Di Filippo, principal policy analyst at Atlas Public Policy.
It’s the culmination of a “pretty dramatic” trend line for Colorado’s EV adoption since the start of 2023, Di Filippo said. Coloradans bought just over 41,000 EVs last year, up from roughly 23,000 in 2022.
Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, announced the accomplishment last week, touting it as a sign of the state’s commitment to reaching its climate goals and improving air quality. “This new data shows that demand for EVs continues to increase and especially with competitive state and federal rebates, drastically cutting the cost of an EV and saving people money,” Polis said in a press release.
Colorado has some of the most generous incentives for EV sales in the country, Di Filippo said. Its policies and incentives have helped make the cars more affordable, while the state’s investments in charging infrastructure have made owning an electric car more practical.
All Coloradans can receive a $5,000 state tax credit for purchasing or leasing a new EV or plug-in hybrid priced up to $80,000. That credit is available through the end of this year, then will decrease to $3,500 starting in 2025. EVs valued under $35,000 are eligible for an additional tax credit of $2,500 — for a total potential state credit of $7,500.
Through the Vehicle Exchange Colorado program, income-qualified residents can trade in old or highly polluting gas cars in exchange for a $6,000 rebate to put toward a new EV or plug-in hybrid purchase or lease, or $4,000 for a used one.
The state tax credits and the vehicle-exchange rebates can be combined with federal tax credits, which currently offer up to $7,500 for a new EV lease or purchase or $4,000 for a used EV.
The state has also worked over the past few years to install more public chargers. There are currently over 5,500 public charging ports across Colorado. This year, the state plans to install another 576 ports using $5 million in funding from the Colorado Energy Office.
In 2020, the U.S. Energy Information Administration projected that 580,000 zero-emission vehicles would be sold in the U.S. in 2023. But actual sales last year were almost two and a half times greater at 1.43 million. This year, Cox Automotive expects sales to climb even higher, despite gloomy forecasts issued by some analysts earlier in 2024.
According to estimates from Kelley Blue Book, EV sales made up 8.9 percent of all vehicle sales in the country in the third quarter of this year — the highest share ever recorded, and an increase from 7.8 percent in the same time period last year.
The Biden administration set a goal for EVs to make up half of all new vehicle sales by 2030. As of this February, sales were on track to meet that goal, though the picture is more uncertain heading into the second Trump administration. The president-elect reportedly plans to eliminate federal EV tax credits and roll back Environmental Protection Agency tailpipe emissions rules — against the wishes of the nation’s largest automakers, including Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis.
Transportation is the single largest category of carbon emissions in the country, at 28 percent, driven mainly by trucks, SUVs, and other road vehicles.
Colorado has an even more aggressive EV goal than the federal government, aiming for 82 percent of all car sales to be electric by 2032. Looking ahead, EV registrations and sales in the state likely won’t continue to outpace California, Di Filippo said, since “the trend line for California is still steeper overall.”
“This isn’t necessarily a story of Colorado just beating California out right,” he said. “This is really a story of EV success.”
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Electric vehicles are becoming increasingly reliable and are narrowing a wide gap with gas-powered vehicles, according to a new survey from Consumer Reports. (Associated Press)
ALSO: Elon Musk says the Trump administration should get rid of the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit, which he has said would help his company Tesla by hurting its competitors. (E&E News)
EFFICIENCY: Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen calls on the White House to “expeditiously review and approve” 10 pending energy efficiency standards, noting current rules won’t get the Biden administration to its goal for emissions reductions via efficiency. (The Hill)
HYDROGEN: Community and environmental advocates are increasingly frustrated by a lack of public information and engagement around proposed regional hydrogen hubs. (Energy News Network)
OFFSHORE WIND: Local offshore wind opponents often receive support including strategy advice, talking points, and celebrity guest speakers from national anti-wind groups funded by the fossil fuel industry, according to a new report from Brown University. (ecoRI)
CLEAN ENERGY: Companies awarded tentative federal clean energy loans to build hydrogen, electric vehicle and other manufacturing facilities worry about their fate under the Trump administration. (New York Times)
POLITICS:
SOLAR:
OIL & GAS: A report finds nine Louisiana liquified natural gas terminals that are operating, under construction or planned will receive more than $21.1 billion in local property tax breaks if all are completed, amounting to “an effective subsidy” of $6.7 million per job. (Floodlight)
OVERSIGHT: The U.S. EPA says in a year-end report that it more than doubled pollution fines and penalties over last year, made its first arrest in a climate-related crime, and stepped up enforcement in historically disadvantaged communities. (Associated Press)
GRID:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Duke Energy builds an electric vehicle charging station near Charlotte, North Carolina, that includes a solar farm and two battery storage systems, and could become a model as commercial trucking companies electrify their fleets. (WFAE)
ALSO:
PIPELINES: Natural gas producer EQT announces it’s selling a stake in its pipeline network to asset manager Blackstone for $3.5 billion, which includes the Mountain Valley Pipeline. (Reuters, news release)
HYDROGEN: Four partners have withdrawn from a regional network building an Appalachian hydrogen hub due to the inclusion of strict carbon emission limits in a tax credit to incentivize production. (Mountain State Spotlight)
CARBON CAPTURE:
CLEAN ENERGY: Federal officials award more than $3.6 million to 20 Tennessee farms and businesses to install solar power and energy efficiency upgrades. (Tennessee Lookout)
OIL & GAS: Sources close to Trump’s transition team says he plans to “go strong” on liquified natural gas exports. (Reuters)
GRID:
OVERSIGHT:
COMMENTARY: Dominion Energy’s filings reveal that data centers are single-handedly driving its escalating projections for new power demand, calling into question the utility’s proposal to build more gas-fired power plants and delay the transition to clean energy, writes a columnist. (Virginia Mercury)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposes offering rebates on electric vehicle purchases if the incoming Trump administration eliminates a federal EV tax credit, while suggesting the incentive program could exclude Tesla cars. (Associated Press, Sacramento Bee)
ALSO: Colorado awards three municipalities $1.5 million to develop an electric bicycle sharing program. (BizWest, subscription)
NUCLEAR:
SOLAR:
UTILITIES: Public Service Company of New Mexico proposes adding 430 MW of new solar capacity and battery storage, including a planned array near the defunct San Juan coal plant. (Solar Industry)
GRID:
OIL & GAS:
COAL: Utah lawmakers propose legislation to close perceived gaps in a 2023 law aimed at blocking the Intermountain Power Association coal plant’s 2025 retirement. (Utah News Dispatch)
LITHIUM: A Utah lithium mining firm idles its Great Salt Lake operations and lays off 186 employees, citing low commodity prices. (KUER)
BUILDINGS: A Colorado town considers requiring homeowners to offset outdoor energy use for pools, spas and snowmelt systems by installing solar and batteries or paying a fee. (Vail Daily)
PUBLIC LANDS: Federal officials push back on Western states’ legal bid to seize “unappropriated” public lands, saying the case rests on “weak foundations.” (WyoFile)
CLIMATE: California’s public employee pension fund says it has invested $53 billion in climate solutions over the last year, though advocates are still urging it to divest from ExxonMobil. (ESG Dive)
President-elect Trump spent his campaign promising to tear into electric vehicle incentives and emission regulations. A growing contingent is preparing to fight him on it.
For starters, Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, and other automakers plan to ask the incoming president to keep in place Biden administration tailpipe emissions standards that would push them toward phasing out combustion vehicles. While they don’t all love the regulations, they’ve already invested billions of dollars into EVs and just want the rules governing that transition to stay consistent, the New York Times reports. The same goes for the Inflation Reduction Act’s $7,500 EV incentives: automakers and dealers say repealing them would hurt sales and put their huge EV investments at risk.
If something does happen to those incentives, California is coming up with a backup plan. Gov. Gavin Newsom this week proposed relaunching the state’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program to once again incentivize EV purchases, promising that “we’re not turning back on a clean transportation future.” Officials in the governor’s office told the Associated Press that the state could exclude Tesla from those rebates to incentivize competition, something Trump’s pal Elon Musk called “insane.”
Meanwhile, the $7.5 billion for EV chargers allocated under 2021’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is in safer territory. The program so far hasn’t made much progress deploying chargers, but its funding will largely be allocated to projects and nearly impossible to roll back by the time Trump takes office, experts tell Politico.
🕰️ Every second counts: Biden administration officials say they’ll race to allocate the remaining $46 billion from four climate and infrastructure bills before the year ends, but $303 billion will remain that cannot be spent until after Trump takes office. (Washington Post)
👷 Offshore wind’s newest defenders: Industrial unions are emerging as a somewhat unlikely source of support for offshore wind and may be uniquely positioned to help defend the nascent industry’s momentum under a second Trump presidency. (Grist)
🏦 Good news for a green bank: A federal green bank program could survive the next four years, assuming the Trump administration follows the law, as its funding has already been formally committed and is supporting projects in red and blue states. (Canary Media)
🔌 Uncertainty on efficiency: Advocates anticipate a mixed bag for energy efficiency under Trump’s second term, expecting cuts in federal funding but noting that efficiency standards benefit U.S. manufacturers and have long had bipartisan support. (Utility Dive)
STORAGE: The United Auto Workers announces a campaign to unionize Ford Motor Co. and SK On’s joint battery project in Kentucky after a supermajority of workers sign union authorization cards. (Louisville Courier-Journal, Kentucky Lantern)
ALSO: A Texas startup is operating a 53 MW storage project made up of used electric vehicle batteries, and appears to be the largest grid storage plant in the world. (Canary Media)
POLITICS:
HYDROGEN: The Biden administration signs an agreement with developers to build a $1.2 billion hydrogen hub in Texas. (Houston Chronicle)
NUCLEAR:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
SOLAR: A Virginia county board discusses changing its solar ordinance to tighten restrictions on projects larger than five acres. (Bristol Herald-Courier)
CARBON CAPTURE: Exxon Mobil and other Gulf Coast oil and gas companies lobby the incoming Trump administration to preserve an $85 per ton tax credit for carbon storage since they’ve already invested in development of the technology. (Houston Chronicle)
OIL & GAS: The Biden administration still aims to release a new rule to require oil and gas companies to cover cleanup costs from offshore drilling rigs, but time is running out and the incoming Trump administration could rewrite or delay it. (E&E News)
BIOFUELS: The Tennessee Valley Authority and an energy nonprofit announce the successful demonstration of renewable diesel for power generation at a 76 MW gas and diesel-fired power plant in Tennessee. (news release)
UTILITIES: Dominion Energy asks Virginia regulators for approval to charge customers for costs associated with its offshore wind farm and moves to develop small modular nuclear reactors. (VPM)
COMMENTARY: The incoming Trump administration’s promises to roll back electric vehicle tax credits could rattle Georgia’s industry, writes a columnist. (Georgia Recorder)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Rivian and Volkswagen finalize their $5.8 billion joint venture to develop electric vehicle software that will be used in models made at Rivian’s planned Georgia plant and Volkswagen’s Tennessee factory. (New York Times; Atlanta Journal-Constitution, subscription; Chattanooga Times Free Press)
ALSO:
OIL & GAS:
POLITICS: South Carolina lawmakers consider a proposed Dominion Energy and Santee Cooper gas-fired plant and a previous failed plan to build a nuclear plant as they determine how to boost energy generation to meet growing power demand. (South Carolina Public Radio)
HYDROGEN: Appalachian residents worry a planned hub to use primarily natural gas to create hydrogen will increase fracking activity, produce pollution and degrade quality of life — part of a pattern of criticism that’s emerged against hydrogen hubs around the country. (Environmental Health News)
OVERSIGHT: Largely in response to criticism of a lack of transparency, Virginia regulators publish a database of data centers’ air permits, which allow them to run diesel generators during outages. (Virginia Mercury)
GRID: Georgia residents react against Georgia Power’s plan to build a transmission line through one of metro Atlanta’s oldest neighborhoods. (WANF)
EFFICIENCY: Two companies partner on a plan to distribute thousands of smart thermostats across Texas in hopes of developing a nearly 1 GW residential virtual power plant by 2035. (Utility Dive)
BIOFUELS:
CLIMATE:
UTILITIES: Tampa Electric files federal documents indicating it could file with Florida regulators to recover roughly $400 million from customers for damage caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. (News Service of Florida)
ENVIRONMENT: A study ranks West Virginia as the country’s least environmentally sustainable state, based on factors that include high carbon dioxide emissions, low renewable energy use, and limited electric vehicle adoption. (WV News)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Colorado advocates say a recent increase in electric vehicle sales shows state and federal incentives are working as intended. (Colorado Sun)
ALSO:
OVERSIGHT: California prepares to defend its climate and environmental laws against the incoming Trump administration’s likely challenges. (CalMatters)
CLIMATE: A report predicts Colorado will fall short of its greenhouse gas-reduction goals for 2025 and 2030, but the gap is smaller than in previous forecasts. (Denver Post)
MINING:
OIL & GAS: Wyoming’s oil and gas industry expects the incoming Trump administration and Republican-dominated Senate to loosen federal drilling regulations. (Cowboy State Daily)
STORAGE: Pacific Gas & Electric agrees to purchase 500 MW of power from two standalone battery energy storage systems in southern California. (Energy Storage News, subscription)
SOLAR: Arizona Public Service signs on to purchase power from a proposed 600 MW solar-plus-storage installation in the northern part of the state. (Solar Industry)
WIND: California awards the West Coast’s floating offshore wind industry nearly $38 million for research aimed at increasing efficiency and reducing costs. (RTO Insider, subscription)
UTILITIES:
COMMENTARY:
This article was originally published by CalMatters.
At New Century Motorcycles in Alhambra, a handful of electric motorcycles are relegated to the back of the store, tucked behind the dirt bikes. The store sells one a month, at most, a salesperson said.
Motorcyclists have long loved their noisy, gas-powered machines that allow them to ride long distances on highways and remote roads with few fueling stops.
Now, in a nationwide first, California is planning new rules that ramp up sales of zero-emission motorcycles in its quest to clean the air and battle climate-warming gasses.
The regulations would impose a credit system for manufacturers so that 10% of motorcycles sold in California would be zero-emissions in 2028 and 50% in 2035, according to the state Air Resources Board. At the same time, a tighter standard for new gas-powered motorcycles would ratchet down their emissions for the first time in more than 25 years.
Under the proposed rules, more than 280,000 new electric or hydrogen motorcycles would be sold in California by 2045 — about eight times more than the total on its roads now. Electric motorcycles make up only 1% of current motorcycle sales.
The state Air Resources Board will vote on the proposed rules on Nov. 7 after a public hearing.
Motorcycles are more often used for recreation than for daily commutes, and they collectively emit far less pollution than gasoline-powered cars and diesel trucks. But a mile driven in a gas-powered motorcycle emits far more pollutants than a mile in a new gas-powered car — for the reactive gases that form smog, it’s a whopping 20 times more per mile, according to the air board.
In a state with the worst smog in the nation and unsafe levels of dangerous fine particles, air-quality officials say no source can be left unregulated: All vehicles powered by fossil fuels need to be cleaned up and transitioned to zero-emissions.
State officials hope more motorcyclists will be interested in the benefits that battery-powered motorcycles have to offer: low fueling costs and less maintenance.
But many motorcyclists point out California’s inadequate network of public charging stations and the limited range of electric models that are unsuitable for long-distance rides. They worry that the rule will limit the bikes they can choose in the future. Others say it could fill an untapped market for urban motorcyclists interested in fast bikes for short commutes.
“There is no infrastructure for electric vehicles,” Michael DiPiero of the American Brotherhood Aimed Towards Education of California, which represents motorcyclists, said in written comments to the air board. “We cannot support the needs we currently have for electricity as it is.”
Rob Smith, a motorcyclist from Santa Monica, owns an electric car and considers himself an environmentalist. But he’s not ready to switch to electric motorcycles — and he doesn’t think most motorcyclists are, either. They’re expensive, silent and have top ranges of about 100 miles.
“I do think it’s the future, I just don’t know about that timeline,” Smith said of the Air Resources Board’s proposal. “This is going to just hit a niche. Can you get to 50% with just that niche?”
Harley Davidson and the Motorcycle Industry Council, a group that represents manufacturers, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the proposed rules.
State officials said the regulation strikes a balance by moving toward electrification of motorcycles and catching up with European standards for gas-powered motorcycles yet still allowing California consumers to have a range of choices.
“We realized we couldn’t push to 100% because there will probably be some circumstances where zero-emission motorcycles won’t have access to infrastructure to plug up their bikes,” said Annette Hèbert, the air board’s deputy executive officer who oversees mobile source rules at its Southern California office.
Motorcycles make up less than half of 1% all vehicle miles traveled in California. But even though they’re a “very small part of the state’s overall transportation sector,” they contribute an “outsized portion of smog-forming pollutants,” air board officials said.
“Motorcycles (emissions) may look small when taken by themselves, but when you consider the additive effect to all those other small sources together, you can see why we’ve got to hit every little piece,” Hèbert said.
If California is to finally have healthy air as well as make progress in combating climate change, “we need to have this paradigm shift, because that’s the only way we’re going to get there,” she said.
Californians breathe some of the nation’s unhealthiest air and vehicles account for the majority of that pollution. The Los Angeles basin has for decades topped the list of cities with the worst ozone, a key ingredient of smog, according to the American Lung Association. Ozone and particle pollution can trigger asthma and heart attacks, as well as other diseases.
The motorcycle regulation would lead to an estimated $649 million in savings from reduced mortality and avoided hospitalizations and illnesses associated with motorcycle emissions, according to the Air Resources Board.
By 2045, the rules are expected to eliminate about 20,000 tons of reactive gases and nitrogen oxides that form smog, and 33 tons of fine particulate matter. That would be about half of the emissions from all California motorcycles.
California is proposing a tiered credit system for manufacturers. Companies that produce high speed, freeway-capable motorcycles with large battery capacities — those that typically produce the most emissions — will get the most credits. Low-speed bikes with low range will get the least.
Companies comply with the rule by producing zero-emission motorcycles for credits or trading their credits with other companies. A manufacturer, for instance, could comply with its 50% target by making and selling 25% electric motorcycles and then purchasing credits for the remaining 25% from an all-electric motorcycle company. Manufacturers would also get bonus credits for producing and selling zero-emission bikes before 2029.
Additionally, starting with 2029 models, the regulation will require new gas-powered motorcycles to follow more stringent European Union standards for exhaust emissions and use better on-board engine diagnostic equipment to detect faults in their emissions systems.
Several manufacturers, including Harley Davison, Ducati and Kawasaki, already make electric bikes, and some companies, like Zero and Verge, build exclusively electric bikes. Energica, an electric bike startup, recently filed for bankruptcy due to increased costs and supply issues.
An electric motorcycle purchased in 2020 cost on average $5,365 more than a gas-powered one. State officials estimated an electric bike would save $215 annually in fuel and maintenance costs.
State officials said electric motorcycles may also appeal to low income motorcyclists who live in apartments and find charging an electric car near their residence more difficult. Less expensive electric motorcycles may be small enough to take inside apartments to charge or come with removable batteries that can be charged overnight.
But officials stressed that the regulation’s intent isn’t to convert car drivers to motorcyclists. Instead, it’s an added option for motorcyclists looking for a more cost effective mode of transportation.
At a Harley Davidson dealer in Marina Del Rey, Live Wire brand electric motorcycles are visible as soon as customers enter the showroom. The dealer sells two or three electric Live Wire motorcycles monthly, said Justin Fraiser, a sales representative at the dealer.
“There are a lot of people in the Harley world stuck on combustion engines,” Fraiser said. But he’s not one of them. “It’s the evolution of things. Eventually, it’s gonna happen.”
Smith, the motorcyclist from Santa Monica, said he thinks electric motorcycles are the future, but they’re not quite ready for “prime time.”
Smith said California has been a leader in climate solutions “for good reason.” He said he cares about reducing emissions and protecting the environment. He is a partner in a venture capital firm that invests in startups that make electric bikes.
But he prefers his “loud and obnoxious” Ducati motorcycle for its better range (up to 200 miles) and for safety reasons — car drivers can hear him coming behind them.
Smith said the state should focus on cutting emissions from new motorcycles with internal combustion engines and was pleased to hear that was part of the regulation.
Karen Butterfield, a motorcyclist from San Diego, agreed that, for her, an electric motorcycle won’t work.
She’s a member of the Southern California Motorcycling Association, which gathers for long-distance trips, from Mexico to Canada and throughout the U.S. They ride for hundreds of miles without stopping, something that an electric one couldn’t do with existing charging network problems.
But she said there’s a massive untapped market in young riders because she thinks electric motorcycles are generally easier to use.
“I think it’s a good thing for motorcycling in the sense that a smaller electric bike would help people get into motorcycling,” she said. “The generations that are coming seem to be more environmentally conscious too, which is a good thing. I think there’s a market there, they just need to find it.”
Adrian Martinez, an attorney for climate advocate Earthjustice, said the organization supports the proposal, but called it conservative. The group was pushing for 100% electric motorcycles in a similar timeline.
“California has such dramatic air pollution problems that we’ve realized that we aren’t in a position to pick and choose,” Martinez said. “We basically need to get to zero emissions everywhere feasible.”
But some motorcyclists believe that mandating electric motorcycle technology isn’t necessary for a vehicle that produces relatively small emissions compared to other vehicles. People ride motorcycles as a hobby, to socialize with other motorcyclists and ride in the mountains or other remote areas.
Some people ride motorcycles as their main form of transportation, and electric motorcycles may appeal to those folks, but it’s a small percentage, said Chris Real, president of DPS Technical, a technical services company for motorcyclists.
Real said he thinks the regulation “won’t move the needle at all” in reducing emissions because most motorcyclists don’t put many miles on their bikes.
“Some consumers will adopt it, and some consumers won’t,” he said. “So very regional consumers, urban consumers that only ride you 20 or 30 miles, it won’t impact them at all. But for somebody that has to make a 100 mile commute or something, that’s not going to be viable.”
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