Highway guardrails aren’t built for EVs

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Steel highway guardrails are not designed to withstand the force of electric vehicles, which are typically heavier than gasoline-powered cars, according to crash test data. (Associated Press)

ALSO:

• Supply and demand and the boom and bust nature of mining has sent lithium prices plummeting in recent months, creating another potential challenge to the electric vehicle industry. (E&E News)
• The chairs of two U.S. House committees want the Biden administration to investigate four Chinese companies they say are involved with a planned Ford battery plant in Michigan. (Reuters)

CLIMATE:

• Longtime Democratic strategist John Podesta will take over as U.S. climate envoy when John Kerry departs this spring. (E&E News)
• Climate change will result in the deaths of as many as 14.5 million people via disease outbreaks and extreme weather, researchers estimate. (Grist)
• Hawaii advocates say while the state has made strides in decarbonizing its power grid, the transportation sector’s reliance on fossil fuels threaten broader climate goals. (Capital & Main)

HYDROGEN:

• Climate advocates and researchers argue hydrogen will only be helpful to the clean energy transition if it’s made from carbon-free electricity, but fossil fuel interests and some experts say making hydrogen with carbon capture-equipped fossil fuels is still viable. (Canary Media)
• Debate over hydrogen’s role in cutting transportation emissions continues as California prepares to receive its first train powered by the fuel. (Canary Media)

UTILITIES:

• As utilities are held accountable for sparking increasingly costly wildfires, industry observers say insurance companies may soon decline to cover utilities. (Utility Dive)
• A statewide New Hampshire community power coalition will become the state’s second-largest electrical supplier this spring after it adds another 29 communities. (Energy News Network)

WIND: Dominion Energy receives the final two federal approvals for its $9.8 billion 176-turbine offshore wind farm near Virginia, opening the way for the utility to begin construction in May. (Virginia Business)

AFFORDABILITY: Vermont communities with low energy burdens also have the highest clean energy technology adoption rates, suggesting lower-income households aren’t getting the help they need. (Bennington Banner)

OIL & GAS:

• Industry observers say a politically connected Texas petroleum magnate helped mastermind the Uinta Basin oil and gas boom in Utah. (HuffPost)
• Duke Energy accelerates its plans to build a hydrogen-capable natural gas power plant in North Carolina because of the state’s population boom and economic growth. (WTVD)

COMMENTARY: A public policy professor says the demise of NuScale’s proposed small modular reactor project in Idaho shows the technology is too expensive and unproven and should be abandoned. (Utility Dive)