Can electric lawnmowers drive homeowners to electrification?

ELECTRIFICATION: An energy efficiency group’s survey suggests electric lawn equipment and solar panels are gateways to broader home electrification, with owners of those products more likely to say they are considering further measures. (Canary Media)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• The International Energy Agency expects global investments in clean energy to exceed fossil fuels by 10 times over this year, largely because of skyrocketing solar project spending. (The Guardian)
• Former U.S. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy says northeastern Ohio cities are providing a model for collaborative, regional planning around clean energy and job training. (WYSO)

OVERSIGHT: A U.S. Senate committee advances three Federal Energy Regulatory Commission nominees to a full Senate vote. (Utility Dive)

SOLAR: Bipartisan coalitions of federal lawmakers ask the U.S. Commerce Department to reinstate and strengthen soon-to-expire tariffs on Chinese solar material imports. (E&E News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Automakers pilot ways to turn electric vehicle batteries into a grid resource, which building owners could use in exchange for reduced rent, free parking, or other benefits for EV owners. (New York Times)
• U.S. senators tell a senior transportation official that the pace of electric vehicle charging infrastructure construction remains too slow years after the bipartisan infrastructure law took effect. (E&E News, subscription)
• Virginia’s Republican governor declares the state will no longer tie its vehicle emissions standards to California’s more restrictive rules, but critics argue he doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally roll back the law. (Washington Post)
• The small city of Charlottesville, Virginia, moves to grow its bus fleet over the next decade and phase out diesel buses entirely by 2040, matching much larger cities in its commitment to an emissions-free transit system. (Energy News Network)
• As New York’s governor pauses the Manhattan traffic congestion tolling program, legal experts say freezing the program aimed at reducing emissions and raising transit system funding may not be a power she has. (New York Focus, Gothamist)

NUCLEAR: As the Biden administration moves to boost nuclear deployment, industry experts and officials who led Georgia’s over-budget, long-delayed Plant Vogtle construction warn against building new large reactors. (Utility Dive, Bloomberg)

OIL & GAS:

• Fossil fuel leaders push the U.S. Supreme Court to take their side and dismiss dozens of lawsuits from cities and states looking to hold the industry accountable for climate damages. (E&E News)
• Competing environmental and industry groups race to shape the climate and economic analysis federal regulators use to determine whether to award permits for new liquified natural gas export terminals. (DeSmog)

WIND: A new $10 million Iowa facility recycles decommissioned wind turbine blades into byproducts that can be used to strengthen construction materials. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)