GM to include EV batteries in UAW agreement

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: General Motors agrees to include electric vehicle battery manufacturing under its main agreement with the UAW, leading the union to pause expansion of its strike against the Big Three automakers. (The Hill)

ALSO:

• Climate advocates join striking UAW workers on the picket lines as they seek to ensure a just transition to electric vehicles. (E&E News)
• Hyundai, Kia and Genesis will adopt Tesla’s electric vehicle charging standard as the U.S. EV maker looks to dominate the charging market. (Axios)

SOLAR:

• While most of the oldest solar panels continue to produce, experts agree owners will soon have to decide how to replace and dispose of their installations. (Utility Dive)
• It’s currently four times as expensive to recycle a solar panel than to trash it — one of many challenges as the first wave of panels reach the end of their useful lives. (Inside Climate News)
• At a Virginia solar farm, grazing sheep help keep vegetation from obstructing panels and provide revenue for local farmers. (Times-Dispatch)

EFFICIENCY: Startups are using artificial intelligence to monitor buildings’ energy usage and help make efficiency-boosting decisions. (Canary Media)

POLLUTION: Critics say crypto-mining operations are extending the lives of older, dirtier power plants in rural areas and failing to deliver jobs or economic development benefits promised in exchange for cheap power and tax breaks. (Daily Yonder)

GRID:

• A $9 billion transmission project connecting power grids in the western and eastern United States would create a ​“superhighway to export clean energy out of the Upper Midwest,” backers say. (States Newsroom)
• California regulators consider significantly slashing Pacific Gas & Electric’s plan to bury utility lines to mitigate wildfire risk, saying it burdens ratepayers. (Politico)
• New Mexico clean energy industry officials say the ongoing energy transition and electrification will necessitate significant grid upgrades and modernization. (Santa Fe New Mexican)

OIL & GAS: California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs a bill requiring oil and gas companies to put up the full cost of plugging and reclaiming low-producing wells before they are transferred to new owners. (Daily Kos)

BATTERIES:

• The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and other tribal nations in Nevada say they were not adequately consulted before federal land managers greenlit the Thacker Pass lithium mine on land they consider sacred. (Sierra Nevada Ally)
• Electric co-ops in Virginia and South Carolina will use federal funds to test long-duration vanadium flow batteries. (Virginia Mercury, Newberry Observer)

CLEAN ENERGY: A Cleveland green bank is leading a coalition of about 20 counties in seven states seeking $250 million in federal funding to help low-income households access solar power. (Energy News Network)

TRANSIT: Rhode Island’s transportation department releases a highly anticipated carbon reduction plan and opens up a public comment period less than two weeks before officials are required to file the document with a federal agency. (Rhode Island Current)

COMMENTARY:

• General Motors’ commitment to bring its EV battery plants under its United Auto Workers’ agreement is ​“one of the most meaningful steps ever taken toward a true Just Transition in America,” a columnist writes. (How Things Work)
• Two clean economy experts argue the U.S. electric vehicle industry doesn’t need to rely on Chinese-sourced minerals as it grows. (Axios)