USPS EV deliveries way behind schedule

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The U.S. Postal Service has only received 93 of the 3,000 electric trucks it anticipated at this point due to manufacturing delays and supplier infighting, putting the program even more at risk of being undercut by President-elect Trump. (Washington Post)

ALSO:

• The U.S. EPA awards $753 million to states and tribal nations to purchase zero-emission heavy duty vehicles, including nearly $220 million to Western states. (news release)
• Electric vehicles accounted for a growing portion of light-duty vehicle sales in the third quarter, with EVs and plug-in hybrids making up 21.2% of the market. (Utility Dive)

OVERSIGHT: A new report finds regulated power companies regularly charge customers for nonessential lobbying, advertising and luxury costs, including a 2019 instance in which Dominion tried to pass nearly $1 million in golf and country club memberships to its South Carolina customers. (Floodlight)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• The U.S. Treasury Department issues final rules governing investment tax credits for offshore wind, geothermal and other clean energy projects. (Utility Dive)
• A report finds the number of sites with enough land and transmission capacity to support clean energy development across a dozen states has shrunk considerably in the last ten months. (PV Magazine)

SOLAR:

• The Biden administration announces it will double tariffs on solar wafers and polysilicon made in China. (The Hill)
• The median income of homes that installed rooftop solar has dropped over the past 13 years as the cost of solar systems shrank and government incentives expanded. (Inside Climate News)

GRID: The premier of Ontario, a major exporter of electricity to the U.S., says he will cut off the flow of energy to the U.S. if President-elect Trump imposes sweeping tariffs on Canadian products. (Associated Press)

COAL ASH: The U.S. Supreme Court rejects a Kentucky electric cooperative’s attempt to block the U.S. EPA from requiring utilities to monitor and remediate coal ash at facilities that are no longer producing the toxic substance. (New York Times, SCOTUSblog)

OIL & GAS: 

• Currently low natural gas prices are expected to jump over the next few years due to rising demand and a lack of pipelines, jeopardizing Trump’s pledge to cut energy costs. (E&E News)
• California environmental advocates worry a major oil and gas company may leave state taxpayers to cover more than $1 billion in clean up and plugging costs for its 11,000 idle wells. (Inside Climate News)

COMMENTARY: Advanced grid technologies that increase the capacity and efficiency of transmission lines should be part of an ​“all of the above” energy strategy to meet growing demand in the Midwest, two former state regulators write. (Energy News Network)