Is it too late for Biden’s grid expansion plan?

GRID: The Biden administration is expected to unveil a grid expansion plan this spring, but experts say the president would need at least a second term to fully roll out the transmission buildout. (E&E News)

ALSO: U.S. lawmakers introduce legislation that would require federal energy regulators to establish incentives for transmission owners to add grid-enhancing technologies to existing power lines. (Utility Dive)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The Biden administration plans to unveil a clean car rule next week that would require carmakers to cut average vehicles emissions 52% by 2032, likely spurring electric vehicle production. (Politico)

OFFSHORE WIND:

• Ørsted and Eversource begin sending power from their 132 MW South Fork wind project to the New York grid, a milestone for the country’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm. (Associated Press, Bloomberg)
• A proposed marine sanctuary backed by tribal nations could complicate interconnection for offshore wind in California. (E&E News)

HYDROGEN: The U.S. Energy Department announces that it will funnel $750 million in bipartisan infrastructure funding to electrolyzer research and development projects, with a goal of spurring clean hydrogen. (E&E News)

COAL: Fourteen coal plants closed in the U.S. last year, but power generators are largely looking to natural gas to replace that capacity. (Inside Climate News)

CLIMATE:

• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce sues the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying its new climate disclosure mandate makes ​“harmful changes” to a 50-year-old precedent. (Reuters)
• The U.S. Interior Department announces $120 million for 146 tribal climate resilience projects. (The Hill)

UTILITIES: The role of a decayed power pole in sparking this month’s historic Texas wildfires drives discussion about the state’s general lack of regulations for utilities related to wildfire mitigation. (NPR, Houston Chronicle)

SOLAR:

• A U.S. solar manufacturing executive urges congressional lawmakers to make tax code changes that would prevent Chinese solar companies from benefiting from Inflation Reduction Act incentives. (Utility Dive)
• Ohio regulators are scheduled to consider plans next week for a $1 billion, 800 MW solar project with 300 MW of storage on thousands of acres partially owned by Bill Gates. (Columbus Dispatch)

PIPELINES: A four-week trial ends in North Dakota in a case to determine whether the state or federal government should pay $38 million in policing costs for Dakota Access pipeline protests, though a judgment isn’t expected for weeks. (North Dakota Monitor)

FOSSIL FUELS: A development group finishes dismantling a former oil refinery in south Philadelphia, once the East Coast’s largest such facility, and begins construction on an industrial space and life sciences lab. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

EFFICIENCY: A Virginia company offers a free online calculator to help homeowners navigate federal tax credits and point-of-sale rebates for efficient appliances. (Energy News Network)

BIOMASS: Environmental groups are concerned that the federal Inflation Reduction Act could create tax incentives for wood-to-energy biomass projects and potentially worsen climate emissions. (Inside Climate News)