Baltimore bridge collapse upends coal exports

COAL: The bridge collapse in Baltimore is blocking access to the U.S.’s second-largest port for coal exports and will likely disrupt the industry for at least six weeks. (E&E News)

GRID:

• Power producers and grid operators split over the North American Electric Reliability Corp.’s proposed cold weather reliability plan, with grid operators saying the rules would leave generators inadequately weatherized because of high costs. (E&E News)
• An analysis recommends ways Massachusetts can take environmental justice communities, public health, and climate into account as it revamps and rebuilds its electric grid. (Union of Concerned Scientists) 

EFFICIENCY: An energy efficiency advocate calls the International Code Council’s refusal to adopt expert-recommended efficiency and electrification measures a ​“dereliction of duty” that will cost owners of newly built homes in the long term. (Canary Media)

DECARBONIZATION: New federal funding to cut steelmaking emissions with hydrogen will help the U.S. catch up to Europe and China, an advocate says. (Canary Media)

OFFSHORE WIND:

• The Biden administration approves the 924 MW Sunrise wind project, slated to be built off Long Island, marking the administration’s seventh major wind project approval. (Associated Press)
• Bids for new offshore wind projects in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island close today, and results could forecast the future of the industry after a year of upheaval. (E&E News, subscription)

OIL & GAS:

• President Biden touts his climate and clean energy accomplishments as he campaigns for re-election, but stays mum on soaring oil and gas production. (Axios)
• Colorado’s oil and gas industry files a ballot proposal to ban drilling, aiming to force state officials to deem a similar initiative forwarded by advocates unconstitutional. (CPR)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Purdue University partners with an Indiana agency and the private sector to build the country’s first highway segment that could wirelessly charge electric vehicles as they travel. (Indianapolis Star)
• A company that supplies electric vehicle batteries to BMW announces it will invest an additional $1.5 billion into a planned South Carolina factory and create an additional 1,080 jobs. (The State)

SOLAR: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice vetoes a bill that would have extended electric utilities’ ability to buy or build solar projects beyond 2025, calling the legislation a threat to the state’s coal industry. (Dominion Post)

HYDROPOWER:

• The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe formally opposes a proposed pumped hydropower energy storage project in Nevada, testing federal regulators’ new policy on tribal input. (Western Water Notes)
• Federal data show hydropower generation in the Western U.S. fell to a 22-year low last year after drought depleted reservoir levels in Washington and Oregon. (news release)

COMMENTARY: A policy analyst highlights green steelmaking’s potential to transform the emissions-heavy industry. (Energy News Network)