FERC transmission order seen as major step for clean energy
GRID: A new order from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will require grid operators to plan for a massive transmission buildout to support renewable energy, but critics say the rule infringes on state authority and could be subject to legal challenge. (Canary Media)
ALSO:
- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says it’s unlikely Congress will reach a deal this year on permitting reform for transmission and other energy projects. (The Hill)
- Analysts say interconnection backlogs and a lack of regional planning are keeping some fossil fuel plants online longer than they’re actually needed. (Canary Media)
TRANSPORTATION: A coalition of 24 states yesterday petitioned a federal court to overturn EPA rules limiting emissions from trucks, while a separate lawsuit challenges California’s phase-out of diesel engines. (Associated Press)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: As anticipated, the Biden administration yesterday announced a new 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles and 50% on solar components; China claims the move violates international trade rules. (CNN)
CLIMATE:
- Climate change has wreaked havoc on home insurance, with companies seeing losses and either substantially raising rates or withdrawing coverage altogether across a growing swath of the country. (New York Times)
- Major banks have spent nearly $7 trillion underwriting fossil fuel projects since the 2016 Paris Agreement, according to a new report. (Guardian)
- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is expected to hold a hearing tomorrow on the threat that climate change poses to national security. (E&E News, subscription)
- A California city orders researchers to stop testing a device designed to fight global warming by spraying sea-salt particles into clouds to make them more reflective, citing possible health concerns. (New York Times)
POLITICS: House Democrats are investigating whether Donald Trump’s solicitation of $1 billion in donations from oil companies violates federal campaign finance laws. (Washington Post)
NUCLEAR:
- President Biden signs a bipartisan bill banning uranium imports from Russia, currently the source of nearly a fourth of the fuel used by U.S. nuclear plants. (Reuters)
- The U.S. House passes legislation sponsored by a Utah congressman that would create a federal grant program aimed at offsetting advanced nuclear reactor developers’ permitting costs. (Deseret News)
COAL: Federal and state records show a company that operates an Alabama coal mine where an explosion killed one nearby resident and critically injured another has been cited hundreds of times for safety violations and is delinquent on dozens of penalties. (Inside Climate News)
ELECTRIFICATION: California lawmakers advance legislation that would require labels on all new natural gas stoves warning customers of potential health hazards resulting from the appliances’ emissions. (Associated Press)
COMMENTARY:
- An independent journalist says state legislatures should reform regulatory practices that give utilities a guaranteed profit on new fossil fuel plants. (New York Times)
- Despite conventional opinion that regulations stand in the way of grid modernization, state regulators across the U.S. have approved most utilities’ requests for upgrading the distribution grid, an analyst writes. (Utility Dive)
