Biggest ever U.S. offshore wind farm wins federal approval

OFFSHORE WIND: The Biden administration approves what would be the country’s largest offshore wind farm, a 176-turbine project by Dominion Energy off the Virginia coast. (E&E News)

ALSO:

• Ørsted cancels its Ocean Wind I and II projects off the New Jersey coast, blaming supply chain issues and higher interest rates. (Associated Press)
• Analysts say the next year and a half will be difficult for wind developers in New York as the state works to identify price points that work for everybody. (Wall Street Journal)

POLITICS: Republican lawmakers have celebrated clean energy investments arriving in their districts thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act even as they once again try to dismantle the climate law. (Guardian)

GRID: Texas’ grid is most in need of transmission capacity expansion to accommodate growing energy demand, followed by SPP and MISO’s grid regions, the Department of Energy finds. (Utility Dive)

BUILDINGS: Inflation Reduction Act incentives for building electrification, efficiency measures, and solar and storage installation could help cut building emissions as much as 70% by 2035, a U.S. EPA analysis finds. (Utility Dive)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• The Inflation Reduction Act is expected to create more than 300,000 construction jobs annually as it spurs clean energy development, plus another 100,000 jobs in operating those projects. (Canary Media)
• Archaeologists play a key role in surveying land for solar and wind projects, and a shortage of workers in the profession threatens to slow clean energy deployment. (E&E News)

FINANCE: Banks around the world financed ​“carbon bomb” projects to the tune of $150 billion last year, paving the way for developments that could each pump a gigaton of carbon dioxide into the area. (Guardian)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: BP will install $100 million of Tesla ultrafast chargers at its gas stations and other convenience stores and truck stops around the U.S., tying the oil company even further into the electric vehicle industry. (Grist)

CLIMATE: Hawaii’s Supreme Court rejects oil companies’ bid to toss out Honolulu’s climate misinformation suit, clearing the way for the case to proceed to trial. (Bloomberg Law)

COAL:

• In a recently unsealed whistleblower lawsuit, a former Southern Company employee claims the company and its subsidiary, Mississippi Power, defrauded the federal government in its failed effort to build a $7.5 billion ​“clean” coal plant. (Associated Press)
• The parent company of two major Wisconsin utilities plans to eliminate coal use by 2032, three years earlier than previously planned, and invest $1.4 billion in renewables over the next five years. (Wisconsin Public Radio)

OIL & GAS: New Mexico’s U.S. senators and advocates call on the Biden administration to finalize proposed oil and gas regulations before holding more federal lease sales. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)

COMMENTARY: Rooftop solar coupled with battery storage can bring grid stability and equity when deployed in low-income and underserved communities, an energy communications specialist writes. (Energy News Network)