Report: U.S. needs to speed transmission buildout

TRANSMISSION: The U.S. needs to double the pace of transmission line construction to accommodate the full potential of the Inflation Reduction Act to cut emissions, a Princeton-led report finds. (Utility Dive)

POLITICS:
• The U.S. Senate is expected to vote tonight on a spending bill that includes Sen. Joe Manchin’s energy permitting reforms. (E&E News)
• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is the largest recipient of donations from NextEra Energy, developer of a proposed pipeline that would benefit from Sen. Manchin’s permitting reforms. (New Republic)
• Democrats propose allowing the federal government to buy and sell oil from its emergency reserves and use the profits to fund electric vehicle charging infrastructure. (Bloomberg)

GRID:
• Puerto Ricans question why restoration of their electric grid is taking so long after Hurricane Fiona, seeing as the Category 1 storm only grazed the island. (Grist)
• California researchers work to develop a decentralized ​“smart grid” to increase resilience as more intermittent renewables come online and power demand increases. (Courthouse News)
• A proposal to use the site of a retiring New York City gas peaker plant as an interconnection point for the Beacon Wind offshore wind farm could be replicated across the country, experts say. (E&E News)

CLIMATE:
• Hurricane Ian barrels toward Florida, prompting evacuations in low-lying, flood-prone Tampa Bay. (Tampa Bay Times, Washington Post)
• Many of the fastest growing U.S. metro areas have seen a staggering growth of very hot days, and several face growing risk of other natural disasters. (Axios)
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposes a $52 billion plan to protect New York City from coastal flooding through 12 storm surge gates, but local environmentalists worry about ecosystem consequences. (Gothamist)

HYDROGEN: A New York Power Authority-GE partnership successfully completes one of the first utility-scale hydrogen blending projects, but the experience shows hydrogen combustion isn’t yet viable. (Power Magazine)

CARBON CAPTURE: Carbon capture provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act could allow power plant operators to receive taxpayer subsidies while increasing emissions. (Energy and Policy Institute)

PIPELINES: A new report finds that a major push to build out pipeline capacity in the Permian Basin ​“is arguably a make-or-break moment for the industry” as public opinion turns against fossil fuels. (Guardian)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Car rental company Hertz plans to turn its airport and city locations into lounges where drivers can wait as their electric vehicles charge. (E&E News)
• A coalition of retailers and charging station companies says Xcel Energy’s $170 million, ratepayer-funded plan for a high-speed charging network in Minnesota would give the utility an unfair advantage. (Energy News Network) 

COMMENTARY:
• While surveys show more people of color are interested in electric vehicles than White people, charging access and a lack of incentives holds them back, an urban studies expert writes. (The Conversation)
• The unwanted, unnecessary Mountain Valley Pipeline will be only the first in decades of harmful projects forced into frontline communities if federal energy permitting reform legislation is passed, writes a policy advisor at the Indigenous Environmental Network. (Native News Online)