A second life for coal communities

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The decline of coal power across the U.S. has left some communities understandably worried. Mines and power plants have been the backbone of local economies, and with their closure comes the loss of thousands of jobs.

New federal funding released this week hopes clean energy can change that fate. The U.S. Department of Energy on Monday released $275 million for seven projects in nine former coal communities, each focused on manufacturing products needed for the clean energy transition. That includes a wind turbine factory in Vernon, Texas, and a battery component maker in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Meanwhile, some shuttered coal plants and former minelands will stay in the electricity business. Fossil fuel infrastructure can leave the land it once occupied polluted and inhospitable for residential or other development. But brownfields and former minelands can still host solar arrays, with the added benefit of not needing to disrupt farmland and forests, States Newsroom reports. And former coal plants come with transmission infrastructure, making it easier for new renewables to plug into the power grid.

So far, coal plants in Indiana, New Jersey, Colorado and beyond are among those slated for a new life hosting renewables. And the Biden administration wants to make these kinds of projects even easier, proposing earlier this month to ease environmental reviews for solar, energy storage and other renewable construction on already disturbed federal land.

More clean energy news

☠️ Coal’s deadly impact: Fine particulate pollution emitted from coal plants is twice as deadly as pollution from other sources, and contributed to at least 460,000 deaths in the U.S. from 1999 to 2020, researchers find. (Guardian)

🕳️ Digging deep for energy: The nation’s first enhanced geothermal project comes online in Nevada, where it uses advanced drilling techniques to access energy that will power Google data centers. (Canary Media)

🗽 We’re not ready for climate refugees: Indigenous Hondurans and other refugees fleeing climate disasters are seeking asylum in the U.S., but eligibility laws written decades ago aren’t equipped to help them. (New York Times)

🌬️ Great Lakes blowback: Despite strong winds on the Great Lakes, offshore wind projects in the region have largely failed to advance over the past decade because of local opposition and infrastructure challenges. (Inside Climate News)

🏭 Big industry, big demand: Clean energy experts say increased power demand from the Biden administration’s plan to expand industrial manufacturing will add to challenges with decarbonizing the electric grid. (E&E News)

⚖️ Electric inequalities: A federal report finds electric heat users will see steeper price hikes than gas users this winter, but a pro-electrification group argues it failed to account for differences between older electric heating appliances and efficient heat pumps. (Guardian)

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• Grants and Development Director | Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition
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