Climate models can’t keep up with falling clean energy prices

CLIMATE: Current climate models underestimate how ​“plummeting” prices for solar and storage could drive a quicker net-zero transition, researchers find. (Utility Dive)

ALSO:

• Forecasters say this winter’s El Niño climate pattern could develop into one of the most intense ever observed, unleashing deadly fires, drought, heat waves, floods and mudslides around the world. (Washington Post)
• As climate change makes weather disasters more frequent, the cleanup industry is increasingly relying on low-wage immigrant labor — and exposing those populations to harmful toxins like mold, asbestos and lead. (Grist)

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UTILITIES: Observers say the result of Maine’s vote to create a public power utility this November could change the course of climate action — and serve as a harbinger of similar efforts around the country. (Boston Globe)

STORAGE:

• Texas’ growth of battery installation, from 275 MW in 2020 to 3,500 MW now, played a major role in protecting the state grid against blackouts this summer even as it set records for power demand. (Canary Media)
• American and South Korean companies announce plans to build a $65 million battery recycling facility in Kentucky that will provide materials to a separate battery-related operation in the same town. (Associated Press)
• University of Cincinnati researchers are developing a battery that improves storage performance at lower costs by using new materials to prevent short circuiting. (WVXU)
• A former fossil fuel-fired generating station in West Springfield, Massachusetts, is being considered for a $70 million battery storage facility. (MassLive)

GRID: U.S. grid operators say rapid electrification could threaten reliability if they don’t have time to adapt to new demand. (Reuters)

OFFSHORE WIND:

• A report finds a complete buildout of offshore wind power along the West Coast would require up to $35 billion in port construction and upgrades. (Wind Power Monthly)
• Chumash advocates urge the Biden administration to expand a proposed marine sanctuary to include areas targeted for offshore wind development along California’s central coast. (Guardian)

EFFICIENCY:

• The U.S. Energy Department introduces new efficiency standards for residential furnaces projected to save residents more than $1.5 billion annually on heating. (The Hill)
• North Carolina clean energy advocates praise Duke Energy for a new program that will allow homeowners and renters to reimburse the utility over time for more efficient heat pumps, water heaters, and other home upgrades. (Energy News Network)

Fresh Energy Benefit Breakfast
What will it take to deliver on the promise of an equitable, clean energy future? Join Fresh Energy in-person or virtually at their October 12 Benefit Breakfast fundraiser with keynote speaker Ramez Naam, climate tech investor and author. 

OVERSIGHT: A new Minnesota law aims to level the playing field and allow small nonprofits to be reimbursed for eligible costs for arguing energy cases before state regulators. (Energy News Network)

COMMENTARY: The Inflation Reduction Act’s incentives for energy efficient appliances need to be simplified if they have any hope of widespread success, argues climate writer Robinson Meyer. (New York Times)