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POLICY: Vermont lawmakers pass a bill making utilities purchase only renewably sourced power by 2035, though the governor is expected to veto the bill over cost concerns. (Seven Days)
ALSO: A top Connecticut Democrat says he intends to force a vote on two bills that Republican lawmakers want to block, including one that declares a climate crisis in the state. (CT Mirror)
FOSSIL FUELS:
SOLAR:
BUILDINGS: Pennsylvania lawmakers advance minimum appliance efficiency standards that would conserve enough energy to power more than 56,000 homes in a year. (WTAJ)
BIOENERGY: A trio of developers detail plans to bring a combined heat and power system to northern Maine that would be fueled by waste wood from the state’s forest industry and “enabled by super-critical carbon dioxide.” (Mainebiz)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Six newly installed electric vehicle fast chargers at a New York City wastewater facility help the city reach 2,000 municipal chargers. (news release)
TRANSIT: Although New York City is poised to kick off traffic congestion pricing next month, similar ideas in Boston are having a tough time getting off the ground. (Boston Globe)
WIND: The head of an anti-wind group files an open meetings law complaint against Nantucket over a wind development working group’s meeting that she says should’ve been public. (Nantucket Current)
RENEWABLE ENERGY: New York energy officials grant $175,000 to a Finger Lakes-area town to help it continue undertaking renewable energy and decarbonization projects. (Finger Lakes Times)
COMMENTARY:
GRID: The U.S. Energy Department announces 10 areas across the country where it intends to use unprecedented federal power to quickly fund and build major transmission projects that connect regional grids. (Canary Media)
CLEAN ENERGY:
POLICY: Of the $1.1 trillion the Biden administration has passed for infrastructure spending, emissions reduction measures, and other priorities, just $125 billion has so far been spent, an analysis finds. (Politico)
OIL & GAS:
CARBON CAPTURE: A $100 million competition that seeks innovative ways to capture and sequester carbon announces a list of finalists. (Canary Media)
UTILITIES: Two years after California lawmakers passed a proposed fixed monthly utility charge designed to slash electricity use and reduce low-income residents’ bills, advocates say it has amounted to a gift for utilities. (Los Angeles Times)
STORAGE: The U.S. Energy Department seeks input on potential manufacturing and design challenges that could affect grid-scale battery storage deployment. (Utility Dive)
EFFICIENCY: Minnesota clean energy advocates say the state can make significant strides in reducing carbon emissions and saving energy costs by adopting updated building codes. (MPR News)
UTILITIES: PacifiCorp’s parent company plans to sell off some assets if states do not limit utilities’ wildfire-related liabilities, saying it will not “throw good money after bad” as it faces a flurry of blaze-related lawsuits. (E&E News)
ALSO:
OIL & GAS:
STORAGE: Observers expect the nation’s grid-scale battery storage capacity to double this year, with California, Arizona and Texas seeing the largest growth. (New York Times)
SOLAR: The SunPower solar company lays off another 71 workers at one of its southern California facilities. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
WIND: The federal Bureau of Land Management nears a decision on a proposed wind facility in southern Idaho that would be visible from a World War II-era incarceration camp and national historic site. (E&E News, subscription)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The nation’s first solar-powered electric big-rig charging depot opens in southern California. (KBAK)
GRID: Unusually strong winds batter utility equipment in Colorado, leaving at least 10,000 customers without power. (CPR)
TRANSPORTATION:
COMMENTARY:
OIL & GAS: The U.S. EPA announces new methane reporting rules for oil and gas facilities, which studies show have long underreported emissions. (news release; E&E News, subscription)
ALSO:
NUCLEAR: The U.S. Senate passes a bill to ban imports of Russian uranium, unlocking $2.7 billion in federal funding for domestic nuclear fuel production. (Utility Dive)
GRID:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
SOLAR:
UTILITIES: PacifiCorp’s parent company plans to sell off some assets if states do not limit utilities’ wildfire-related liabilities, saying it will not “throw good money after bad” as it faces a flurry of fire-related lawsuits. (E&E News)
CLEAN ENERGY: Illinois lawmakers are working on a clean energy and transit bill package that could be a follow up to a 2021 climate law and target gas-sector emissions, battery storage and electric fleet vehicles. (Capitol News Illinois)
EFFICIENCY: Experienced contractors suggest important questions to ask when hiring someone to install electric appliances and make other efficient home improvements. (Washington Post)
Climate activists and legislators in Massachusetts are pushing a series of bills aimed at stopping further expansions of the natural gas system in the state.
The proposed legislation attempts to build on a groundbreaking order late last year that set the explicit policy goal of transitioning the state from natural gas. The bills include measures to prohibit the construction of more pipelines, stop expansion of service into new cities and towns, and encourage the growth of utility-scale networked geothermal projects.
“The order said they need legislative changes to fully implement their directives,” said Jess Nahigian, state political director for the Massachusetts Sierra Club. “We need to see something out of the legislature this year that moves us towards meeting our legal reductions mandates.”
Massachusetts has set a goal of going carbon-neutral by 2050. A considerable obstacle, however, is the prevalence of natural gas as a heating source: More than half the homes in the state use natural gas as their primary heating fuel. So in 2020, state regulators launched an investigation into the future of natural gas in the state and what utilities’ role would be in the transition from fossil fuels.
After two and a half years of filings, arguments, and deliberation, the state released an order in December 2023 that many hailed as transformational for its clear vision of transitioning from natural gas and holding utilities accountable for reducing emissions. The document laid out a set of principles to guide the process, leaving utilities, regulators, and legislators to build out the specifics.
That’s what some lawmakers are pushing for with the current slate of bills.
House Bill 3237 would stop utilities from bringing natural gas into municipalities that don’t already have service. While most cities and towns are already served by gas pipelines, several dozen, largely in central and western Massachusetts, are still without service. The bill would also prohibit state regulators from approving proposals to build new pipelines to import more natural gas until at least 2026.
Another bill proposed in both the House (H.3203) and Senate (S.2105) contains measures to facilitate home electrification and the development of utility-scale networked geothermal, systems that use thermal energy below the earth’s surface to heat and cool buildings. The legislation redefines a “gas company” as an entity that provides either natural gas or thermal energy, and specifies that the companies’ legal obligation to provide service can be met by natural gas, or alternatives such as heat pumps or networked geothermal.
The legislation would also create a fund that could be used to help low- and moderate-income residents switch from gas to electric appliances. The fund could also pay to retrain gas utility workers to build and maintain geothermal pipes and infrastructure, creating more secure employment for these workers during the transition away from natural gas.
“That way they can gradually transition to this new system while not being laid off, while still being able to feed their families,” said Audrey Schulman, co-founder of HEET, a nonprofit that champions networked geothermal developments.
A third bill, H.3227, would allow any city or town to prohibit fossil fuel use in new construction or major renovations. A 2022 clean energy law created a pilot program allowing these bans in 10 municipalities that had previously voted for the policy. Several additional cities and towns, however, came forward after the law was passed, expressing interest in enacting such rules. Climate activists have long argued these communities — and any additional municipalities that vote for the measure — should be allowed to enact their own bans.
Supporters of these bills point to the environmental impacts of burning less fossil fuel, but also make an economic argument in favor of restricting the growth of gas. The economics of gas companies’ current course of action just doesn’t make sense, advocates argue. Any new infrastructure built now — when the state has explicitly declared a move away from natural gas — is likely to become unneeded or underused long before the normal end of its lifespan. Ratepayers would be left continuing to pay for an obsolescent system.
“Should we be building this infrastructure now that, as we transition off of gas, will be a stranded asset in the ground?” asked Cathy Kristofferson, board member of the Pipeline Awareness Network of the Northeast.
At the same time, the utilities recently filed their grid modernization plans, seeking approval to pass on about $2.4 billion in costs to consumers. While these plans are necessary to make the grid ready for the electrified future, they will inevitably increase costs for consumers, said Sen. Michael Barrett, co-chair of the Senate telecommunications, utilities, and energy committee. It makes sense to take steps to keep natural gas costs in check, he said.
“You do that by making sure that new pipes that take 30 years to pay off don’t go into the ground unless they’re absolutely necessary,” Barrett said. “If you’re going to maximize the electric system you should minimize the gas system. There’s a nice balance there.”
Some, however, argue the push against natural gas is going too far, too fast. Many homebuyers prefer gas for both cooking and hearing, said Emerson Clauss III, a board member and past president of the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Massachusetts. Though some studies have found minimal cost increases, Clauss says many association members find all-electric homes considerably more expensive to build than houses with gas hook-ups. As the state grapples with a serious housing shortage, new policies should not make it more expensive to build homes, Clauss said.
“I don’t know how we resolve our housing crisis without some good planning and options — and that’s what they’re taking off the table,” he said. “At the end of the day, we have to get people into housing they can afford.”
Advocates generally expect provisions from these individual bills to be wrapped into an omnibus climate bill. Sen. President Karen Spilka at the end of April declared plans for the Senate to tackle a major, comprehensive climate bill, led by Barrett and majority leader Cynthia Creem, before the session closes at the end of July.
“I hope large parts will make it into any omnibus bill,” Schulman said. “This is the time.”
NATURAL GAS: A new study finds using a gas stove on average accounts for 75% of people’s exposure to nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant also found in car exhaust and other sources, which can trigger asthma attacks. (Guardian)
ALSO: Efforts by Republicans and a building industry group to launch ballot initiatives aimed at blocking the state’s transition away from natural gas are facing multiple legal hurdles. (Washington State Standard)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
TRANSPORTATION:
CLEAN ENERGY:
SOLAR: A new Virginia law will expand community solar into the state’s western coal country, and create an opportunity for regulators to revisit how utilities charge customers for it. (Energy News Network)
PIPELINES: A section of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Virginia ruptures during hydrostatic testing with water, damaging a section of pipe and leaking into a nearby stream just weeks before its in-service date. (Roanoke Times)
OIL & GAS: Injection wells owned by an Ohio state senator leaked fracking waste deep underground before releasing at the surface, prompting a $1.3 million cleanup paid for by the state in 2021. (Cleveland.com)
COAL: A deal with grid operator PJM to keep two Maryland coal plants open past 2025, when they’re slated to be replaced with natural gas or oil, could cost ratepayers an extra $5 a month. (Baltimore Banner)
CLIMATE: Vermont’s House sends a bill to the governor that would aim to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for climate disasters in the state, like last year’s extreme flooding. (NBC5)
After languishing since 2022, a revamped measure to launch a shared solar program in southwest Virginia found daylight this year.
The General Assembly gave the go-ahead to a pair of measures (SB 255, HB 108) directing utility regulators to set up Appalachian Power’s inaugural 50 megawatt program by Jan. 1.
Despite the modest size laid out in the new law, Charlie Coggeshall, Mid-Atlantic regional director with the Coalition for Community Solar Access, is content with the breakthrough into a part of the state historically dependent on the coal industry.
“Our expectations had to be tempered significantly,” Coggeshall said. “But we got to a place where we’re putting a stake in the ground in Southwest Virginia, a win for continuing the advancement of shared solar in Virginia.”
It isn’t yet clear how soon Appalachian Power customers will be able to subscribe. The utility must provide tariff information and other related requirements by July 1, 2025.
Relatedly, the Senate and House of Delegates passed separate legislation, SB 253 and HB 106, to enlarge Dominion Energy’s existing shared solar initiative to 350 MW from its current 200 MW limit.
Shared solar, also known as community solar, allows Virginians to purchase solar power via subscriptions to communal, off-site arrays typically built and owned by third-party entities, not utilities.
The arrangement is attractive to customers who can’t afford the upfront cost of rooftop panels, residents with shaded southern exposure or subject to homeowner association restrictions, and apartment renters and condominium owners without control of their rooftops.
Ideally, subscribers earn credits in the form of savings on their monthly electric bills while also helping to pay down the cost of constructing the shared array.
Proponents are encouraged that programs for both investor-owned utilities could eventually include incentives for shared solar projects that are sited on underused surfaces such as rooftops, landfills and brownfields or that incorporate advances such as combining solar with agriculture ventures.
The Virginia Department of Energy will be organizing a stakeholder group to shape the particulars of such inducements.
Coggeshall and other advocates were disappointed two years ago when legislation aiming to set on-the-ground goals for shared solar at Appalachian Power was scuttled in favor of a bipartisan law calling on utility regulators to meet with interested parties to evaluate the program’s possibilities.
Peter Anderson, the director of state energy policy at Appalachian Voices, said proponents had no choice but to persist. Now, he added, it’s up to the State Corporation Commission to institute an affordable model that attracts subscribers and solar developers.
“I’m over the moon that we are establishing shared solar in Appalachian Power territory,” Anderson said. “But my fear is that if we don’t have demonstration projects to build from, we’ll have to go back and rewrite the bill.”
One continuing fractious issue with Dominion’s shared solar program is the debate over what’s called the “minimum bill.” It’s a monthly fee the utility is allowed to charge enrollees to account for the costs of implementing the program and for use of the utility’s grid infrastructure.
In 2022, regulators opted to set that fee at $55, but agreed to exempt lower-income participants from paying it.
Advocates argued that such a high charge for a renewable energy initiative designed to save customers money would prevent wealthier residents in Dominion territory from enrolling. That has indeed been the case since operators began enrolling participants last July 1.
On the other hand, the Appalachian Power program will include a minimum bill, but does not include an exemption for lower-income customers.
“This makes it risky for solar project developers,” Coggeshall said. “With Dominion, at least developers can be somewhat confident about building a project that’s 100 percent for low- and middle-income customers. Appalachian Power doesn’t have that kind of backstop.
“Still, the interest is there. I have coalition members asking me about Southwest Virginia. I tell them the economics are to be determined. We won’t know for about a year.”
Utility regulators are tasked with setting Appalachian Power’s minimum fee. The utility pushed to reshape the legislation this session because it didn’t want non-participating customers to be burdened by any costs of adding shared solar.
“This issue is specifically listed within the bill as a factor the SCC must consider when determining the minimum bill,” spokeswoman Teresa Hamilton Hall said. “Appalachian Power worked hard to get this language inserted in the legislation, and we believe the SCC will be mindful of the financial impacts to non-participating ratepayers when making decisions.”
While advocates will be weighing in on that docket to be sure it sets a fair minimum bill, they’re also heartened that the new Dominion law directs regulators to recalculate the current $55 minimum bill charged to market-rate subscribers.
Specifically, the commission must calculate the benefits of shared solar to the electric grid and the state, then deduct those benefits from other costs. Regulators must spell out each cost, benefit or other value used to determine the minimum charge.
The law basically requires a reconsideration of the minimum bill, Coggeshall said, adding that other states already recognize that shared solar and other distributed generation projects help utilities offset the cost of transmitting and generating power.
“Dominion has failed to look at the other side of the ledger and ask what the benefits of solar really are,” he said. “This law is forcing that discussion. Nothing is guaranteed. It’s still going to be a big fight.”
Anderson said it will be intriguing to watch how the three-member SCC — which has two new commissioners — approaches assigning a value to solar that will help dictate a minimum bill.
“The commission is where the rubber meets the road,” he said. “I’m an optimist. We’ll take our swings in front of the commission. My fingers are crossed and I’m hopeful we get projects in the ground.”
Robin Dutta, the acting executive director of the Chesapeake Solar and Storage Association, said having shared solar folded into Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s 2022 Energy Plan gave it priority status among legislators.
“It’s a great example of how clean energy should be bipartisan because it’s a step forward in building an equitable clean-energy economy,” he said. “Seeing the program expand in megawatts and territory is valuable.”
Quashing any growth since shared solar legislation was first authorized would have been the worst outcome, he said.
In 2020, Fairfax County shared solar champion Sen. Scott Surovell ushered in the original legislation by reluctantly capping Dominion’s program at 150 MW. That was permitted to stretch to 200 MW if at least 30% of the enrollees qualified as lower income. No project can be larger than 5 MW.
Thus far, Dominion has greenlighted 41 shared solar projects totaling close to 150 MW, according to its website. Operators began enrolling participants last July 1 when the law took effect. Another 15 projects — which add up to 60-plus MW — are on Dominion’s waiting list.
Under the new law, half of the additional 150 MW in Dominion’s territory can cater to lower-income subscribers. However, the other 75 MW must basically be split between market-rate and lower-income subscribers.
Another switch in the Dominion program allows the utility to keep the renewable energy credits from each project so they can count toward compliance with the state’s renewable portfolio. Appalachian Power also will benefit by holding onto its renewable energy credits.
“Before, developers in Dominion territory could do anything at all with the credits,” Coggeshall said. “Monetizing the credits helped developers recover costs of building projects, so that’s a lost economic advantage. That change might provide ammunition to regulators to lower the minimum bill.”
Even though Virginia’s shared solar program is relatively small overall, Coggeshall and other advocates are hopeful a federal infusion of $156 million announced on Earth Day can widen its reach.
The Virginia Energy Department will use its Solar for All grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — part of the $7 billion national Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund — to design and expand residential solar programs serving marginalized communities. Funding for the five-year program begins in 2025.
Surovell, the Senate Majority Leader who represents suburbs of Washington, D.C., latched onto the idea of shared solar in Virginia more than five years ago when he clicked on an ad for a program while visiting his vacation house in New York’s Adirondack Mountains.
He signed up in five minutes during that summer of 2019 and soon discovered that tapping into an off-property array would about cover his entire electric bill.
Though the Democrat admits the learning curve has been steeper in his home state, he has doggedly sponsored legislation every year since 2020 to enlarge shared solar’s overall footprint and ensure that access to renewable energy doesn’t solely benefit affluent homeowners.
This year, he was the patron behind both Senate versions of the bills that became law. Notably, neither was amended by Youngkin. Last year, Surovell introduced Senate Bill 1266, which would have boosted total capacity to 1 GW. It passed the Senate with a nine-vote margin but failed to advance out of committee in the House.
Regulators’ decision to set a high minimum charge has continually frustrated Surovell. He has always maintained that such fees must be reasonable to attract subscribers seeking fairly priced renewable energy.
For Coggeshall, this session’s shared solar gains only reinforce the reality that Virginia is poised to embrace incremental progress, not great leaps forward.
“Virginia is not New York,” he concluded. “It has been a roller coaster trying to strike a balance to meet Virginia where it is at instead of where we want it to be.”
GRID: Eversource jabs at Connecticut’s utility commission, saying it hasn’t been “a constructive regulatory environment” and announcing a $500 million decrease in grid investments over the next five years; the governor will reappoint the commission’s chair regardless. (CT Mirror, Hartford Courant, CT Mirror)
ALSO:
FOSSIL FUELS:
FINANCE: A number of Schoharie County towns sue New York state over the constitutionality and fairness of its solar and wind project taxation rules. (CBS 6)
POLICY: Climate advocates and policymakers say the New York Power Authority hasn’t been transparent enough in its planning to comply with the Build Public Renewables Act for anyone to see if the agency is on track to meet its mandates. (Canary Media)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
WIND: The Brigantine, New Jersey, city council pushes for fellow municipalities and its county board of commissioners to use legal action to fight offshore wind development. (Press of Atlantic City)
SOLAR:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Rivian receives $827 million in state incentives to build the company’s mid-sized electric SUV in Normal, Illinois, and add at least 550 jobs over the next five years. (WIFR)
ALSO: North Dakota’s two U.S. senators sponsor legislation to eliminate federal tax incentives for electric vehicles. (North Dakota Monitor)
RENEWABLES:
CLIMATE: A public speaker, podcast host and environmental justice advocate discusses creating a bigger Black, Brown and Indigenous presence in the climate movement at a recent event in Chicago. (Energy News Network)
COAL:
SOLAR:
UTILITIES:
BIOFUELS: Updated federal guidance on a biofuel carbon credits program could provide a path to profitability for the developer of a large sustainable jet fuel plant in South Dakota. (South Dakota Searchlight)
MANUFACTURING: The developer of a low-emissions aluminum plant receiving $500,000 in federal funding is considering sites in Kentucky and surrounding states, which could mean a huge influx of jobs and nearby renewable energy development. (Grist)
WIND: Ameren shuts down a northeastern Missouri wind project to determine why a turbine broke apart and fell to the ground last week. (KTVO)
OIL & GAS: A pipeline leak releases about 10 barrels of oil into nearby waterways in western North Dakota. (Dickinson Press)
OIL & GAS: Major oil and gas companies have donated millions of dollars to universities for climate initiatives that often resulted in research affirming their policy positions, a congressional report finds. (Axios)
ALSO: California’s petroleum industry mounts a multi-pronged campaign to block legislation aimed at easing oil and gas pollution’s burden on underserved communities. (Inside Climate News)
TRANSPORTATION:
SOLAR:
CLIMATE:
PIPELINES: The rupture of a Louisiana pipeline that released 107,000 gallons of carbon dioxide raises concerns about similar issues among opponents of a proposed carbon pipeline in South Dakota. (Verite News, SDPB)
RENEWABLES:
MANUFACTURING: The developer of a low-emissions aluminum plant receiving $500,000 in federal funding is considering sites in Kentucky and surrounding states, which could mean a huge influx of jobs and nearby renewable energy development. (Grist)
EFFICIENCY: New federal water heater efficiency regulations will generate more energy savings than any single previous appliance rule, the U.S. Energy Department says. (Utility Dive)
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