Utilities waffle on climate support

Correction: More than 11,000 natural gas storage wells across the U.S. may have a single barrier of failure that puts them at risk of a major methane leak. An item in yesterday’s digest mischaracterized their risk. 

UTILITIES: The largest U.S. utilities have offered uneven support and sometimes conflicting positions while lobbying on climate policy in recent years, according to a nonprofit group’s new report. (Utility Dive)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• More than 1,100 new public fast charging stations came online across the U.S. in the second half of 2023. (Bloomberg)
• General Motors announces a new plug-in hybrid car, three years after promising to turn away from gasoline altogether. (E&E News)

STORAGE: Global venture capital investment in energy storage soared to new records last year, with 86 deals totalling $9.2 billion in funding. (Utility Dive)

HYDROGEN:

• The federal government is trying to manufacture demand for clean hydrogen, but critics say the fuel is only the second- or third-best climate solution for many industries. (Canary Media)
• Indiana advocates worry that federally funded plans to create a Midwest hydrogen production hub built around natural gas and carbon sequestration could perpetuate local pollution. (Energy News Network)
• In New York, the Tonawanda Seneca Nation wants federal officials to reject a $1.6 billion loan for hydrogen producer Plug Power because of the firm’s shifting plans and allegations that it’s evading federal environmental reviews. (Investigative Post)

EMISSIONS: The U.S. Energy Department allocates $254 million for projects to cut industrial greenhouse gas emissions. (Utility Dive)

GRID:

• The Texas grid has teetered but held up through two major winter storms since widespread outages in 2021, but questions remain about the relative reliability of natural gas and renewables that are carrying the load. (E&E News)
• Arizona advocates and tribal nations look to push federal land managers and a developer to reroute a portion of the SunZia transmission line through the ecologically and culturally significant San Pedro River Valley. (NOEMA)
• Some Long Island, New York, residents say a new report about fires at three lithium-battery sites in 2023 gives them more concern than comfort, noting the lack of a groundwater study and delayed soil testing. (Newsday)

MINING: The mining industry aims for a rebrand as it becomes a necessary piece of the clean energy transition and looks to recruit young, climate-conscious employees. (Grist)

NUCLEAR: The Biden administration is reportedly preparing to offer a conditional $1.5 billion loan to reopen a shuttered nuclear plant in southwestern Michigan. (Reuters)

CLIMATE:

• National business and agricultural groups sue California over new laws requiring large companies to disclose greenhouse gas emissions and other climate-related data, saying they overstep federal regulatory authority. (Associated Press)
• Data showing more than 300 people died from excessive heat in Texas last year is leading to more research into heat and how it affects the human body, especially the elderly and people of color. (Inside Climate News)