Clean energy projects need tribal input early, analysts say

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: Analysts and advocates urge clean energy developers to consult with tribal nations early in the planning phase rather than risk expensive legal challenges later on. (Grist)

SOLAR:

• Damage from severe weather such as hail, high wind and snowfall can permanently reduce solar panels’ energy output, researchers find. (Utility Dive)
• A bipartisan group of senators urge the Biden administration to increase tariffs on solar component imports from China. (Utility Dive)
• Researchers are piloting a roadside snow fence with 6-inch-wide solar panels along a Minnesota highway. (MPR News)

OIL & GAS:

• Congress lines up hearings on the Biden administration’s pause on new LNG export project approvals, and Republicans are expected to propose bills to reverse the stoppage. (Axios)
• Federal energy regulators prepare to review natural gas export terminals as usual after the Biden administration’s pause, as stakeholders say the stoppage doesn’t affect FERC processes. (E&E News)
• Pipeline giant Williams is expected to propose a sizable buildout of its sprawling Transcontinental pipeline to provide natural gas to Alabama, the Carolinas, Georgia and Virginia. (E&E News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Volvo will stop funding its subsidiary Polestar, a luxury electric vehicle maker that has struggled to take off. (CNBC)
• Tesla recalls nearly all of its U.S. vehicles, saying a software update is needed to upgrade the font size on warning labels. (CNN)
• Data show California electric vehicle sales hit a record-high last year, but the pace of growth appears to be slowing. (CalMatters)

UTILITIES:

• Duke Energy wants to scuttle a 2030 climate target in North Carolina, add some renewables and build two new ​“hydrogen-capable” natural gas plants due to a surge in demand driven by economic development projects. (Energy News Network)
• Xcel Energy’s latest long-term energy plan would keep its two Minnesota nuclear plants until the early 2050s and add 3,600 MW of renewables, 600 MW of storage and two new gas plants. (Star Tribune)

HYDROGEN: Critics say utility plans to burn hydrogen for electricity at natural gas plants as a way to cut emissions would be a costly distraction from pursuing other technologies. (Canary Media)

GRID:

• Texas regulators reject a proposal to require batteries to maintain a certain state of charge, noting there’s no similar penalty for gas or coal projects. (Utility Dive)
• Clean energy advocates say grid operator PJM’s new planning for transmission upgrades appeases fossil fuel interests and ignores states’ clean energy goals. (States Newsroom)

BIOFUELS: Airlines explore plans to power planes with fat, starch, sugar, and a variety of other biofuels as they look to phase out carbon emissions by 2050. (Washington Post)

POLITICS: President Biden will change John Podesta’s title to make him the administration’s top climate adviser and sidestep a potentially testy confirmation hearing. (E&E News)

COMMENTARY: A California journalist finds the Biden administration’s proposal to open 22 million acres of federal land to solar development somewhat scary — but far less so than climate change’s effects. (Los Angeles Times)