Federal solar tariff debate is back

SOLAR: As a pause on federal tariffs on solar products from southeast Asia nears expiration, domestic manufacturers and lawmakers are split on whether restoring them would benefit the domestic solar industry. (E&E News)

ALSO: Advocates push for the expansion of rooftop solar in Puerto Rico to replace aging power plants that local residents blame for pollution and negatively affecting their health. (Inside Climate News)

EMISSIONS:

• A rural electric co-op association and 23 states file separate lawsuits challenging the U.S. EPA’s new power plant emissions rules, which they say aim to ​“destroy the coal industry.” (Utility Dive)
• The Port of Cleveland will build an ​“electrification hub” as a first step toward its net-zero emissions goal, with hopes that it will enable broader electrification by the ships, trains and trucks it serves. (Energy News Network)
• Louisiana lawmakers pass a bill prohibiting data collected through some community air monitoring programs from being used in Clean Air Act-related regulatory actions, jeopardizing monitoring in communities historically overburdened by pollution. (Floodlight)

GRID:

• A new survey published by Columbia University finds many of the developers of 69 projects within PJM Interconnection would need over two years to complete even after interconnection approval. (Utility Dive)
• Midwest energy regulators say grid operator MISO’s most recent transmission investment plan is not nearly enough to meet the needs of the region’s quickly shifting generation mix. (E&E News)
• New York residents question how almost two years of construction on the Champlain Hudson Power Express transmission line might impact car traffic and residential life. (Rockland/​Westchester Journal News)

CLIMATE:

• Michigan’s attorney general plans to join dozens of cities and states in suing fossil fuel companies ​“that knew exactly what they were doing” in contributing to climate change. (Bridge)
• More and more residents in areas of high climate risk are turning to state-run ​“insurers of last resort,” raising concern that these providers may not be able to cover losses in the event of a widespread hurricane, wildfire or other extreme weather event. (Axios)

HYDROGEN: The U.S. Energy Department aims to cut the price of clean hydrogen, electrolyzer systems, and other pieces of the hydrogen industry through several years of research and development. (Utility Dive)

UTILITIES: The Tennessee Valley Authority pledges to reduce its carbon emissions by encouraging more energy efficiency, building more renewables and retiring its last coal plants, but critics assail the utility for still planning to build new gas-fired power plants. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

COMMENTARY: States should enact caps on per-capita energy use to lock in the benefits of energy efficiency and prevent rising electricity use, a doctoral student writes. (Energy News Network)