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A Nuclear Regulatory Commission panel will hear arguments Tuesday about whether two citizen groups can challenge Energy Harbor’s application to extend the life of Ohio’s Perry nuclear plant through 2046.
The Ohio Nuclear-Free Network and Beyond Nuclear say they are worried about potential radioactive leaks into Lake Erie, as well earthquake risks that were not understood four decades ago when the plant was originally licensed. They also question whether the company adequately considered whether relicensing is necessary.
Both Energy Harbor and the NRC staff oppose the groups’ petition to intervene, which would give the anti-nuclear advocates a formal role as parties in the case, with the right to submit and challenge evidence at a hearing.
“The idea of having an adversarial proceeding is for us at least to have a chance to scrutinize the evidence more closely than the NRC staff might,” said Terry Lodge, an attorney in Toledo who represents the Ohio Nuclear-Free Network and Beyond Nuclear in the case.
However, it’s not unusual for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s staff to seek to limit interventions, according to national experts on nuclear licensing cases.
In general, “the ways they construct their rules on hearings and standards are very restrictive,” said Diane Curran, an attorney who works on nuclear power plant issues and is not involved in the case. And companies that want to keep their plants running have had a winning track record for getting license renewals granted.
The environmental groups’ reply brief said they plan to withdraw their contentions about earthquake risks, which the NRC staff argued can be “addressed by ongoing regulatory processes.” Although new information came to light after the plant began operating, those risks presumably existed when the plant was first licensed. So, the staff said, they don’t belong in a relicensing case.
Beyond Nuclear and the Ohio Nuclear-Free Network argue that neither the renewal application nor its environmental report address the impacts of radioactive tritium or other radionuclides that can leak from the plant, including how they might interact with other contaminants in Lake Erie. Energy Harbor’s environmental report filed with its application notes that tritium was found in groundwater wells near the site in 2020 and 2021. The groups’ reply said they provided enough information to show there is an issue, whose merits would be decided later based on evidence at a hearing.
The groups also argued that Energy Harbor’s environmental report exaggerated the potential adverse consequences if the plant shuts down, and that understanding the actual consequences matters when it comes to considering alternatives that could avoid or mitigate environmental risks posed by the plant.
It’s unclear how much consideration the groups’ concerns will get if their petition to intervene is denied.
“The NRC’s technical review process includes multiple opportunities for the community near a plant to provide input on potential environmental impacts of license renewal,” said Scott Burnell, a public affairs officer at the commission. “The NRC technical staff consider this input to ensure our review appropriately addresses matters under the agency’s jurisdiction.”
But that consideration would not take place in the context of a public hearing, Lodge said. And there’s no guarantee about how deeply the staff would consider different issues in its back-and-forth communications with Energy Harbor. It’s “very optional,” he said.
And while the commission must publish its proposed environmental impact statement for public comment, its rules also make it hard to raise issues after the fact. The NRC often treats various issues as “generic,” even though the law calls for a site-specific consideration, Lodge said.
“The NRC has basically constructed the rules around relicensing to make them a very pro forma process,” said Tim Judson, executive director for the Nuclear Information and Resource Service. Generally, the main focus is on whether a company has an adequate “aging management program, to be able to monitor and repair things as needed.”
Connie Kline, a member of the Ohio Nuclear-Free Network, said she was surprised that the NRC staff was “so virulent” in opposing the groups’ participation in the case and basically echoing Energy Harbor’s points. From her perspective, that’s worrisome, because the agency’s job is to regulate industry in order to protect the public.
“We call NRC, in many respects, a lap dog and not a watchdog,” Kline said.
Members of the public may listen to but not comment during the oral argument and prehearing on Jan. 30. A Jan. 22 notice from the NRC provided the dial-in number, but did not state the time to call. A separate Jan. 4 order says the proceeding will start at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time.
WIND: The Biden administration awards a northern California county $426.7 million to fund development of an offshore wind turbine assembly, construction and maintenance terminal. (Times-Standard)
SOLAR:
UTILITIES:
OIL & GAS: Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy calls on the state legislature to allocate another $4.5 million to boost a proposed liquefied natural gas pipeline and export project, but lawmakers are skeptical of the plan’s viability. (Northern Journal)
COAL:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
GEOTHERMAL: A Hawaii lawmaker proposes tackling rolling blackouts by tapping active volcanoes for geothermal power. (KHON2)
GRID:
OFFSHORE WIND: New Jersey regulators approve two new offshore wind farms as part of the state’s third solicitation: the 2.4 GW Leading Light and the 1.34 MW Attentive Energy 2 projects. (E&E News, Offshore Wind Biz)
ALSO:
POLICY: The question of how to pay for Maryland’s “comprehensive” climate plan is sure to be discussed during this upcoming legislative session, with no clear or easy answers in sight. (Maryland Matters)
CLIMATE:
MINING: A Pennsylvania nonprofit receives what is thought to be the largest grant the state has dispersed for abandoned coal mine cleanup, for a project near the Nanticoke Creek in the state’s northeast. (Bay Journal)
TRANSIT:
SOLAR:
Some environmental advocates are striking a new tone as they urge skeptical neighbors to see the larger climate benefits of a proposed port that would help build future offshore wind farms in the Gulf of Maine.
The fast-warming area of the North Atlantic is thought to have one of the world’s best wind resources in its deeper waters. Tapping into this huge renewable energy potential will likely require massive floating turbines, with a deepwater port to help construct and assemble them before they’re towed out to sea.
A state announcement on one of two potential port sites in the small Midcoast town of Searsport is expected in the coming weeks. Amid a record spate of destructive extreme weather events, conservation groups are stepping up calls for the public to back some version of the port project for the climate’s sake.
“The number one best thing to do for the environment is to get turbines in the water and start generating renewable energy,” said Nick Lund, the advocacy and outreach manager for Maine Audubon. “This is a larger question than just Searsport, because it really does affect all of us.”
Offshore wind is crucial to Maine’s goals for reducing its carbon emissions, Lund said, and offers a unique chance for the state to contribute its resources to the national and global fight against climate change.
Maine Audubon, which predates and is separate from the National Audubon Society, hopes to reframe the debate around the port and offshore wind in general as more than a “lesser of two evils,” he said.
“This type of turbine is not something that can be built elsewhere,” Lund said. “This is a real opportunity to generate a ton of energy completely locally. Other states, other countries don’t have this opportunity.”
Maine depends more on carbon-intensive fuel oil for home heating than any other state, importing it largely from Texas, Louisiana and Canada, according to federal data. The state has encouraged residents to switch to electric heat pumps and hopes to get 80% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
But a boom in local solar projects has raised land-use concerns, and residents have repeatedly pushed back on transmission lines planned to bring Canadian hydropower or land-based wind from Northern Maine onto the regional grid. Some Maine fishing groups also oppose offshore wind development.
Lund said Maine Audubon is trying to turn toward saying “yes” rather than “no” to projects with a net benefit for the climate. The group has spent years developing habitat-minded siting guidance for solar developers, and executive director Andy Beahm wrote a newspaper commentary in 2023 urging support for offshore wind and calling climate change “the No. 1 threat to Maine wildlife and habitat.”
Around the same time, the National Audubon Society put out a report supporting transmission build-out for climate reasons despite potential impacts to birds. Environmentalist Bill McKibben also wrote that summer that “some NIMBY (not in my backyard) passion will need to be replaced by some YIMBY (yes in my backyard) enthusiasm — or at least some acquiescence” in order to fight the climate crisis equitably.
In an interview soon after his commentary was published, Beahm acknowledged that localized energy development may feel new to many Mainers: “Maine is highly dependent on others for our energy,” he said. “As a consequence, we haven’t had to see a lot of the power infrastructure from our communities.”
But his group and others are increasingly arguing that this needs to change. If Maine can’t tap into its offshore wind potential, it could see far more land used for solar, Lund said — or could help drive fossil fuel growth in already overburdened environmental justice areas of Appalachia and the Gulf South.
“If we say no to everything here,” Lund said, “someone else, someone with less power — their land is being developed.”
It will take a rare kind of port to help build and deploy turbine assemblies that are expected to be taller than the Washington Monument, with blades and installation vessels more than 400 feet long, according to a 2021 port feasibility study by the state Department of Transportation.
“Those locations in Searsport are, by far, the sort of best available — certainly in Maine and in New England,” Lund said. “Without a deepwater port, we’re simply not going to have floating offshore wind in the time that we need.”
The state has zeroed in on two potential wind port sites in Searsport: Mack Point, a piece of shoreline that now partly houses a Sprague Energy oil and cargo terminal; and Sears Island, a state-owned conservation area popular for birding and outdoor recreation.
Sears Island is one of the largest undeveloped islands in Maine, managed by a 2009 conservation easement that set about a third of its area aside for a potential future port. The island was unsuccessfully eyed for a nuclear plant, a coal plant, a container port and an LNG terminal in decades past, according to a state committee that overcame “years of acrimony and controversy” to negotiate the easement.
The 2021 study listed Sears Island as a preferable wind port site, partly because building one at Mack Point would require costly dredging. But some Mainers have pushed back hard against the idea of this use for part of DOT’s Sears Island set-aside, with officials predicting protest “sleep-ins” if they go this route.
A state working group has spent more than a year considering ways to minimize Mack Point’s potential cost and dredging issues — with buy-in from the site’s current owner, Sprague — and recent editorials in Maine newspapers have supported it as a better choice over Sears Island.
“Locating the offshore wind port at Mack Point consolidates industry in a single location and removes unused physical remnants of outdated energy production that offshore wind intends to replace with clean, renewable, more sustainable energy production,” Sierra Club Maine director Pete Nichols wrote in the Portland Press Herald on Jan. 18.
Lund said Maine Audubon agrees that Mack Point is the preferable site, and that choosing it could help the state avoid costly legal challenges. “And,” he said, “I’m better with delay than I am with not getting it built at all — that’s really the worst outcome.”
He said his group is most interested in seeing the project move forward, and in working to mitigate and offset any environmental impacts wherever it’s located.
CLEAN ENERGY: States bring in hundreds of millions of dollars each year in fossil fuel revenues, paying for schools and roads that will need to find other funding sources as states transition to renewables. (Axios)
EQUITY: As many as 1.5 million U.S. families could lose access to home heating assistance funds if Congress doesn’t include an additional $2 billion in aid in next year’s budget. (The Hill)
CLIMATE: House Republicans argue that the SEC’s upcoming rule requiring businesses to submit climate-related disclosures oversteps the agency’s authority based on a recent Supreme Court ruling. (Utility Dive)
NUCLEAR:
GRID: The North American Electric Reliability Corp. details a three-year plan for creating reliability standards for inverter-based resources including wind, solar and battery storage. (Utility Dive)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The Biden administration still needs to specify which parts of electric vehicle charging station construction can be paid for with newly detailed federal tax credits. (Canary Media)
SOLAR:
NATURAL GAS: Renewable energy advocates raise concerns about storing liquefied natural gas next to power plants, saying it doesn’t make sense to invest in gas as the country moves to renewables. (States Newsroom)
COAL: A Wyoming law requiring utilities to consider retrofitting aging coal-fired power plants with carbon capture rather than retiring them is increasing utility bills and could end up costing ratepayers billions of dollars. (WyoFile)
COAL ASH:
New Hampshire’s energy department is preparing to road-test a grant program meant to help disadvantaged cities and towns access the environmental and financial benefits of solar power.
The state plans to use $1.4 million from the 2021 federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Act to help fund the installation of solar projects up to 60 kilowatts on municipal buildings or land. The grant will cover up to 95% of the costs of a qualifying solar project for lower-income cities and towns and 60% for other municipalities.
In addition to cutting carbon emissions, solar can also make a community more resilient in case of power outages. And using it to power municipal facilities can save money that can be reinvested in public projects or used to hold down property tax rates in the long-term.
The funding application has been submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy, and New Hampshire is now in “wait-and-see mode,” said Joshua Elliott, director of policy and programs in the state energy department.
The state is also looking at the program as something of a trial run, to see if it makes sense to continue and expand the grant offering in the future.
“We’re looking at this program as almost the guinea pig to see what demand is out there, what can we do, what we can improve,” Elliott said. “Then we’ll use this process to inform what potentially a [larger] municipal program could look like.”
As a whole, New Hampshire lags the region in solar adoption. The state ranks 41st in the country for installed solar capacity, behind even lower-population New England states like Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont, according to the Solar Energy Industry Association. State policies to encourage solar are limited, with incentives for residential solar maxing out at $1,000 per project and rebates for commercial solar limited to $10,000.
On the municipal level, though, many New Hampshire cities and towns are very interested in solar power. For example, in Hanover, a more affluent town and the home of Dartmouth College, solar arrays provide nearly all the power used by municipal facilities. Smaller towns and those with lower average incomes, however, often have a harder time realizing their solar goals.
New Hampshire property owners already have one of the highest property tax burdens in the country, so proposing that the residents of small, disadvantaged towns pay more to install solar is a big ask, even if there could be financial benefits down the line. Beyond the issue of funding, there are the logistics: researching options, hiring consultants, assessing different grant options.
“If you have the idea that you want solar on the town hall, you have to go from the idea to the implementation,” said Margaret Byrnes, executive director of the New Hampshire Municipal Association. “For municipalities that don’t have that internal staff, it’s a significant lift.”
The grant program aims to lighten that burden. And to maximize the benefits these towns can achieve, the grant guidelines encourage municipalities to skip entering into leasing arrangements and instead buy their solar arrays outright, so they retain the rights to sell renewable energy credits.
“We want all of those benefits flowing to the community itself,” Elliott said.
Colebrook, a town of roughly 2,000 people just 10 miles south of the Canadian border, is looking at the grant program as a potential way to fund a solar array on the roof of its town hall. Tourism is the main economic driver in the remote and scenic town, and there is little industry and few high-paying jobs. The median household income in town is just over $48,000, well below the state median of $91,000.
“We can’t just go out and ask for $150,000 from the town to foot the bill” for a solar project, said Colebrook town manager Tim Stevens. “Any time you have to go back to the town and ask for more money than you did before, that has a negative impact on them.”
Hinsdale, a small town near the state’s southern border, has plans to open its transfer station full-time and hopes to build a solar array on the site to help power the operation. A recent report, however, found that most residents’ property taxes had increased between 25% and 48% between 2018 and 2022, making it challenging to ask for yet more money. And there’s a bridge in town that needs to be rebuilt and other pressing infrastructure issues.
“Unfortunately, solar is not on that priority list,” said Josh Green, Hinsdale’s community development coordinator.
He estimates that a 60-kilowatt array at the transfer station would cost about $260,000. With the grant, the town would only have to pay about $13,000 of that total tab.
“The solar grant would definitely help the town out tremendously,” Green said.
Though the planned grant program is modest in size — the total budget will likely be able to fund only a handful of projects — it is well-tailored to the needs of the state, said Melissa Elander of Clean Energy New Hampshire, a nonprofit advocacy group that has been working with municipalities in the northern part of the state to prepare for the launch of the grants.
“It’s a good fit to focus on smaller towns that often get forgotten in some of the larger grant programs,” she said. “I am thrilled that it’s going to be available at all.”
The cold spell that swept the U.S. last week brought surprise snow and cold to states that don’t usually see it, but it wasn’t exactly a winter wonderland for many electric vehicle drivers.
Freezing temperatures decreased EV battery ranges and reduced charger speeds, leading to long waits at some public chargers — and a whole bunch of headlines. The problem came to a head in Chicago, where temperatures well below zero led to hours-long waits at Tesla Supercharger stations.
I live in Buffalo, New York, and took my Subaru Solterra out in some chilly temperatures over the past few weeks, including to a nearby ski hill and a snow-buried Buffalo Bills game. I got everywhere I needed to be without trouble, though I did turn off my car’s heat at times to conserve my battery range and took some slower but shorter-mileage routes. And while there wasn’t a line at my closest Level 3 charger, I only got a few miles of range while charging as I grocery shopped.
Experts say small trip modifications like those, plus a little patience and prior planning, can keep EV drivers out of cold-weather potholes.
🌨️ Keeping the lights on: A top federal energy regulator says the recent wave of winter storms highlights the need for “equitable and forward-thinking transmission solutions” that ensure power plants and lines keep working in bad weather. (Utility Dive)
🌞 The Pentagon goes solar: The U.S. military will install rooftop solar panels on the Pentagon as part of a $250 million package to reduce emissions from federal buildings. (Associated Press)
🚛 Eastbound and electric: While few medium- and heavy-duty truck drivers are piloting electric models, many who do love their smooth handling and a lack of noise and fumes. (Washington Post)
☢️ Nuclear options: Despite growing public and governmental support for nuclear power, industry experts say it’s unclear when the next U.S. reactor may come online. (Canary Media)
🤫 Greenhushing: After rising greenwashing allegations, many companies are now keeping their climate work quiet, potentially decreasing pressure on big emitters to change their ways. (Grist)
🏗️ Cleaning up cement: Cement and concrete decarbonization startups partner to push for policies promoting low-carbon construction practices and products. (Canary Media)
🚢 Methane contradictions: Climate advocates say planned liquefied natural gas export terminals contradict the Biden administration’s promised efforts to crack down on methane emissions. (Canary Media)
TRANSMISSION: Indigenous tribal nations and advocates file a federal lawsuit seeking to block a southern Arizona section of the SunZia transmission project, saying it imperils cultural resources. (Associated Press)
ALSO: U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, a California Democrat, says the relatively burdensome federal permitting process for new transmission lines is holding back the clean energy transition. (news release)
OIL & GAS:
UTILITIES:
ELECTRIFICATION: Washington state lawmakers revive an effort to ban large utilities from connecting natural gas lines to new residential or commercial buildings, with some exceptions. (KIRO)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Colorado city uses a state grant to purchase a second electric fire engine. (Daily Camera)
CLEAN ENERGY: Republican Utah lawmakers push back on federal moves to replace fossil fuel power plants with clean energy, saying it could harm reliability and increase electricity rates. (Utah News Dispatch)
COAL: A Wyoming county rezones portions of a Powder River Basin coal mine to facilitate repurposing infrastructure for other uses after the operation closes. (WyoFile)
CLIMATE: Hawaii Gov. Josh Green revives a proposal to enact a $25 climate impact fee on visiting tourists, estimating it would generate more than $68 million annually. (Honolulu Civil Beat)
WIND: California agencies publish a draft offshore wind strategic plan identifying suitable development sites and potential impacts. (Riviera)
BATTERIES: An energy storage firm plans to launch programs incentivizing residential solar-plus-battery system deployment in Los Angeles County. (PV Magazine)
Editor’s note: Menlo Park, California, has stopped enforcing its ban on natural gas hookups in new buildings. Friday’s digest mistakenly said Palo Alto was halting enforcement of the rules.
OIL & GAS: Climate advocates say planned export liquefied natural gas export terminals could negate the Biden administration’s promised efforts to crack down on methane emissions. (Canary Media)
ALSO:
CLIMATE: The Biden administration touts $1 trillion in climate achievements over the last three years — a number with unclear sourcing that far exceeds the $369 billion Inflation Reduction Act. (E&E News)
GEOTHERMAL: Colleges across the northern U.S. are building geothermal systems equipped with ground-source heat pumps to heat and cool buildings without emissions. (New York Times)
ELECTRIFICATION: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson plans to introduce an ordinance this week that would ban natural gas hookups in new buildings and homes, a climate strategy facing pushback from a powerful local union. (Sun-Times)
MINING: An Arkansas town that was once dotted with oil wells sees familiarity in Exxon Mobil and other companies’ plans to explore lithium production in the area. (Grist)
GRID:
PIPELINES: A forthcoming U.S. Justice Department brief will show the Biden administration’s view on how a 1977 energy treaty with Canada affects efforts to shut down the Line 5 pipeline in Michigan. (Canadian Press)
EFFICIENCY:
SOLAR: Solar installations for houses of worship became more appealing under the federal Inflation Reduction Act, which allows them to directly claim tax credits. (Interlochen Public Radio)
POLICY: Connecticut lawmakers were unable to pass most of the provisions outlined in major climate bills in 2023, despite extreme weather and regional policy progress. (CT Mirror)
ELECTRIFICATION: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson plans to introduce an ordinance this week that would ban natural gas hookups in new buildings and homes, a climate strategy facing pushback from a powerful local union. (Sun-Times)
OIL & GAS: Ohio environmental groups are challenging a state commission’s claims that its decisions to allow oil and gas drilling in state parks and wildlife areas can’t be appealed in court. (Energy News Network)
SOLAR:
HYDROGEN: At a mini-village project site in Ohio, Dominion Energy is testing the potential of blending hydrogen and natural gas for appliances. (Spectrum News)
GRID: Federal regulators reject a proposed cap on MISO’s interconnection queue, saying it could hurt the grid operator’s ability to cover potential short-term supply shortfalls. (Utility Dive)
PIPELINES:
OIL & GAS: North Dakota officials estimate that as much as 700,000 barrels of oil production per day was lost over last week during historically low temperatures. (KFYR)
NUCLEAR: The University of Illinois hopes to secure funding and approval to build an on-campus nuclear reactor that would be allowed under a new state law lifting the state’s moratorium on nuclear construction. (Crain’s Chicago Business, subscription)
RENEWABLES: An Illinois Republican proposes a bill allowing counties to reinstate local wind and solar restrictions that were nullified under a 2023 law establishing statewide siting standards. (Ford County Chronicle)
BIOFUELS: The South Dakota Senate unanimously passes a bill allowing gas stations to claim a fuel tax refund of up to 5 cents per gallon of ethanol sold. (South Dakota Searchlight)
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