Milton knocks out power to 3 million Floridians

GRID: More than 3 million Floridians are without power after Hurricane Milton makes landfall, striking while many parts of the Southeast are still reeling from Hurricane Helene. (New York Times, Associated Press, Inside Climate News)

ALSO: PJM Interconnection considers a plan that would allow some generation proposals to skip ahead in the interconnection queue in the name of reliability, which some companies object to as a ​“sweetheart deal.” (Utility Dive)

OIL & GAS:

• Black women lead a group of Louisiana nonprofits and grassroots organizations fighting the expansion of oil, gas and petrochemicals. (Floodlight)
• A Denver petroleum company with ties to Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch pressures the court to gut a federal environmental review law and clear the way for a contested oil-hauling railway in Utah. (The Lever)
• Utilities developing a proposed $1 billion gas-fired power plant in Wisconsin withdraw a contested state air permit but say they’re still committed to the project. (Wisconsin Public Radio)

POLITICS: A new report says proposals under Project 2025, a policy blueprint for a second Trump term developed by conservative groups, would deprive Ohio of thousands of clean energy jobs and increase utility bills. (Energy News Network)

OFFSHORE WIND: In New Jersey, activists promoting unfounded theories about electromagnetic waves emanating from offshore wind cables have gathered enough momentum to pose a serious threat to the state’s first planned offshore wind farm. (Heatmap, subscription)

CLIMATE:

• Veteran meteorologists say they’ve never seen anything like this year’s hurricane season, which featured the earliest Category 5 storm on record, a month-long quiet stretch, and then five more hurricanes between Sept. 26 and Oct. 6. (Associated Press)
• Hurricane Milton is poised to wallop Florida’s already fragile insurance market by causing billions of dollars in damage. (Politico)

NUCLEAR: Federal regulators seek public comment on their plan to streamline environmental reviews for new nuclear reactors. (Utility Dive)

COMMENTARY:

• Researchers find broken, slow and congested chargers are becoming the biggest impediment for electric vehicle drivers, highlighting a need for federal funding for maintenance in addition to installations. (The Conversation)
• A 10-state collaborative aiming to strengthen interregional transmission throughout the Northeast still has vital questions to resolve about cost-sharing, reconciling competing standards, and cooperation between grid operators, says a power transmission engineer. (Utility Dive)