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FirstEnergy scraps 2030 climate goal

By Dan Haugen

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UTILITIES: Ohio-based FirstEnergy tells investors that it will abandon its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 30% by 2030, saying that its coal plants can’t be replaced in time to hit the target. (Bloomberg)

ALSO: An Ann Arbor, Michigan, coalition releases a detailed proposal for how the city could transition to a municipally run electric utility, proposing a nine-member board with five seats publicly elected. (ClickOnDetroit)

POLITICS: A Michigan ballot campaign to restore local government’s ability to block solar and wind projects has been framed as a grassroot effort, but its leaders have ties to climate change denial and fossil fuel groups. (Planet Detroit)

TRANSPORTATION: After passing 100% clean electricity laws, state lawmakers in Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota shift their attention to tailpipe emissions and potentially thorny debates pitting ethanol against electricity. (E&E News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

  • Illinois, which recently ranked second to last in a ranking of states’ charger access, plans to add 1,000 fast-charging ports this year at shopping centers, hotels, truck stops, restaurants, and other public locations. (Chicago Tribune)
  • While electric vehicle sales continue to grow, the pace is slower than what executives predicted, causing layoffs at auto and battery plants. (NBC News)

GRID:

NUCLEAR: Federal money could boost efforts by Michigan and other states to restart or keep aging nuclear power plants operating as a source of carbon-free electricity. (Stateline)

HYDROGEN: A startup company with a lab in Columbus, Ohio, raises $246 million as it seeks to extract hydrogen found in deep underground rocks. (ColumbusInno)

EFFICIENCY:

OVERSIGHT: Former Ohio utility regulator Sam Randazzo asks for his bribery trial to be transferred from Cincinnati to the state capital. (Cleveland.com)

COMMENTARY:

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