A blueprint for slashing building emissions

BUILDINGS: The U.S. Department of Energy rolls out a blueprint for slashing new building emissions, saying the optional standards aimed at cutting construction emissions and power use could save consumers more than $100 billion in annual energy costs. (Courthouse News)

CLIMATE:

• As lawsuits against fossil fuel companies over their emissions impact find success, groups look to use a similar strategy to hold agricultural companies accountable. (Inside Climate News)
• The U.S. EPA prepares to announce $20 billion to finance climate projects, largely in low-income communities. (E&E News, subscription)
• While fishing groups push back on offshore wind, advocates say the industry is unprepared to deal with the threat of climate change, as increasingly intense storms damage waterfront facilities. (Bangor Daily News) 

GRID:

• Grid operators warn a lack of policies to manage the transition from fossil fuels to renewable power over the next decade puts power reliability at risk. (E&E News)
• California’s grid operator proposes $6.1 billion in transmission projects aimed at increasing reliability and providing access to solar, geothermal and wind resources in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and offshore. (Utility Dive)
• The Southwest Power Pool formally proposes a day-ahead power market for Western utilities, setting up a competition with the California grid operator’s rival plan. (Utility Dive)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• Solar and wind have been the fastest growing source of new power generation over the last decade, while coal use has declined and natural gas has leveled off, a nonprofit’s analysis finds. (Grist)
• Permitting reform is essential to ensuring the Inflation Reduction Act can be fully implemented, International Monetary Fund analysts find. (Axios)
• Seven states will receive federal Inflation Reduction Act funding to boost siting programs that make it easier to develop wind, solar and storage projects. (Utility Dive)

NUCLEAR: Federal nuclear regulators need to more fully consider climate impacts when renewing nuclear plants’ licenses and considering a new wave of small reactors, a government watchdog says. (Utility Dive)

OIL & GAS:

• The Tennessee Valley Authority announces it will close a huge coal-fired power plant near Knoxville, Tennessee, that was the site of a major coal ash spill, and replace it with a 1,500 MW natural gas plant by 2027. (Knoxville News Sentinel)
• The Biden administration plans to issue a highly-anticipated decision this summer on oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a lawsuit seeking to overturn Trump-era leases there winds through the courts. (Alaska Beacon)
• Backing down from a proposal that originally sought to block utilities from billing ratepayers for new natural gas infrastructure, the Maine House passes a bill that directs a state agency to study the issue instead. (Press Herald)

CARBON CAPTURE:

• A U.S. Steel plant in Gary, Indiana, is embarking on a $150 million carbon capture project that will convert emissions into calcium carbonate, potentially serving as a demonstration for turning emissions into a valuable product. (Canary Media)
• An Arkansas startup processes carbon-rich woody waste from logging operations into compact bricks it can bury to sequester emissions. (Canary Media)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Tesla sales slumped in the first quarter of 2024, suggesting the company’s long-held dominance in the U.S. electric vehicle market may be plateauing. (Axios)