White House ramps up fuel economy standards

OIL & GAS:
• The Biden administration rolls out a new fuel economy rule that will require 8% efficiency increases in 2024 and 2025 model year vehicles, followed by 10% in 2026. (E&E News)
• Two Democratic U.S. senators urge the Biden administration to develop a new oil and gas leasing plan for the Gulf of Mexico. (E&E News)

SOLAR:
• More than 800 utility-scale, commercial rooftop, community solar and solar storage projects in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania are waiting in queue with transmission organization PJM Interconnection. (Chesapeake Bay Journal)
• North Carolina’s Supreme Court will soon rule whether homeowner associations can veto residents’ solar installations in the name of aesthetics. (Energy News Network)
• A company announces it will develop a 250 MW solar farm on 3,000 acres of a former West Virginia coal mine, which organizers say will be the largest solar project in the state. (WV News, Charleston Gazette-Mail)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Tesla says it delivered 310,000 cars in the first three months of 2022, a steep increase from the same period a year earlier. (New York Times)
• Xcel Energy struggles to enroll electric vehicle drivers in programs that aim to ensure charging is done during off-peak hours to reduce stress on the electric grid. (E&E News)

COAL: Some of the Alabama miners striking against a coal company are making ends meet by working at an Amazon warehouse — where workers are also trying to unionize. (New York Times)

UTILITIES:
• Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s former campaign treasurer warned senior aides about Sam Randazzo’s ​“opaque and undisclosed” financial ties to FirstEnergy prior to DeWine appointing him to the Public Utilities Commission. (Ohio Capital Journal)
• Arizona’s Salt River Project crews work to extend power infrastructure to 300 homes on the Navajo Nation, where about 14,000 households lack electricity. (KTAR)
• A Rhode Island judge approves the state attorney general’s request to pause PPL Corp.’s purchase of Narragansett Electric, saying the decision didn’t evaluate environmental and ratepayer impacts. (Providence Business News)

GRID:
• Connecticut’s utility commission approves a program to quickly evaluate and deploy pilot projects and technology with the intent of helping them ​“fail fast” and transform into new, scalable innovations. (Utility Dive)
• Las Vegas uses a ​“digital twin” — a virtual replica of the city — to track electricity distribution and test plans to increase energy efficiency. (Nation)
• California regulators consider three Pacific Gas & Electric pilot projects that would use electric vehicles to provide power backup for homes and microgrids. (Utility Dive)

COMMENTARY: The Biden administration needs to speed up its mining permit process to ensure its push for increased critical minerals is effective, a columnist writes. (Forbes)