$6 billion for decarbonizing macaroni and cement

EMISSIONS: The U.S. Energy Department announces $6 billion for 33 industrial decarbonization projects, including electrification at Kraft Heinz facilities and a carbon capture and storage system at a cement plant. (Associated Press)

OVERSIGHT: Senators question President Biden’s three Federal Energy Regulatory Commission nominees about the body’s authority, their past stances on natural gas, and other issues in a confirmation hearing. (Utility Dive)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Detroit automakers face a ​“very big balancing act” in the coming months and years as they attempt to match electric vehicle investments with anticipated consumer demand. (Bridge)

GRID:

• National Grid announces a $4 billion plan to upgrade its upstate New York power grid, with new substations and rebuilt power lines among its 6-year plan. (Utility Dive)
• A Texas Congress member’s bill to connect the state’s standalone power grid to neighboring regional grids sparks debate over how it might affect energy growth within the state. (Inside Climate News)

OIL & GAS:

• Fossil fuel executives say Biden administration regulations are threatening their industry, but worries about trade conflicts dampen their excitement for re-electing former President Trump. (Politico)
• Four environmental groups appeal an Ohio judge’s order that declined to review state regulators’ decisions to allow oil and gas drilling in a state park and wildlife areas. (Energy News Network)
• The specter of South Carolina’s $9 billion failed construction of a nuclear plant looms over new efforts by Dominion Energy and state-owned utility Santee Cooper to build a natural gas-fired power plant. (Post and Courier)
• Advocates and celebrities join California Gov. Gavin Newsom to launch a campaign defending a 2022 law banning new oil and gas wells near homes, schools and hospitals against an industry-led effort to overturn it. (Associated Press)

OFFSHORE WIND:

• After Salem, Massachusetts, closed a decades-old coal plant, residents fought for — and won — climate resiliency funds and job assurances from the offshore wind assembly terminal slated to replace it. (Boston Globe)
• Federal officials plan to auction leases for offshore wind in the Gulf of Mexico in four locations that are smaller than initially planned, but larger than last year’s auction. (NOLA.com)

EFFICIENCY:

• Congressional Democrats condemn the International Code Council’s decision to go against experts and strip electrification measures from model building codes. (HuffPost)
• Berkeley, California, rescinds its first-in-the-nation natural gas hookup ban in new construction after an appeals court ruled the ordinance conflicts with federal regulations. (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Volunteers with a Virginia climate group partner with four nonprofits to encourage their low-income clients to register for no-cost energy efficiency upgrades. (Energy News Network)

HYDROGEN: The U.S. Treasury Department today will hold the first public hearing on its proposed hydrogen tax credit. (E&E News, subscription)

COMMENTARY:

• The best way to encourage electric vehicle adoption is through research, development and infrastructure that will make EVs a clearly cheaper and more reliable choice than gas cars, a columnist writes. (Washington Post)
• The natural gas industry’s promise to generate economic prosperity in Appalachia never came to pass even during times of booming output, and efforts to build a hydrogen hub will likely suffer the same fate while continuing to defile the land, writes a climate activist. (Parkersburg News and Sentinel)