[USA] “DOE Applauds Vogtle Decision”

[DOE, 26 September 2018]

The construction of Vogtle 3&4, located in Georgia, was approved in a September 26, 2018 vote by all four of the project’s co-owners (Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power, MEAG Power, and Dalton Utilities). This project will be the US’s first large scale utility-based nuclear project in over 30 years. Vogtle 3 is expected to come online in November 2021 and Vogtle 4 a year late in November 2022. The project will also support jobs in Georgia – employing over 7,000 workers during construction and 800 permanent jobs post-construction. As a result, the plant will provide reliable and clean energy to approximately 500,000 homes for decades. DOE’s Spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes expects that the completion of this project will cement the US’s leadership in nuclear technology. Hynes also hopes that “this project will mark the beginning of a nuclear renaissance in America.”

For more info, please click here: https://www.southerncompany.com/newsroom/2018/sept-2018/all-vogtle-owners-vote-to-move-forward.html

[USA] “Massachusetts Clean Energy Advocates Welcome SMART Program Order”

[SEIA, 27 September 2018]

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) has issued its Order on the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) program. The issuance of this order was one of the final steps to be taken before the SMART program, whose legislation was signed in 2016 by Governor Charlie Baker,[1] could be implemented. The details of this legislation can be found at the Massachusetts legislature’s portal.[2]The program is expected to boost the state’s solar industry and increase solar jobs as well by extending access to 75% of Massachusetts residents who previously could not install rooftop solar. As a result, Massachusetts’s leadership in the solar industry began to falter. However, with the implementation of the program, solar will once again thrive in the state. This program is also expected to provide a savings of $4.7 billion to ratepayers. Sean Garren, Senior Director of Northeast for Vote Solar, stated, “Solar projects have been stalled across the Commonwealth for more than a year now awaiting the launch of the SMART program, which will still be weeks from now. These projects will mean local investment, new jobs and property taxes, as well as a cleaner and more resilient energy system.”

[1] https://www.mass.gov/news/department-of-public-utilities-issues-order-to-continue-solar-development

[2] https://malegislature.gov/Bills/189/Senate/S1979

[USA] “Acting EPA Administrator Wheeler Concludes Visit to G7 Environmental Ministers Meeting”

[EPA, 20 September 2018]

The EPA Administrator concluded his visit to the G7 Environmental Ministers Meeting on September 20, 2018. The meeting involved leading officials from Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, and the European Commission. Wheeler participated in one-on-one as well joint sessions. These sessions often focused on reducing air and water pollution, transitioning to a low carbon economy, resource efficiency, food waste, and improving “natural infrastructure to reduce coastal risk.” Wheeler and the European Union Commission delegate, Daniel Calleja, also talked about developing an air quality exchange in order to share technical information between EPA and EU experts.  Wheeler stated of the conference, “The United States is pleased with the progress being made by global leaders to advance practical solutions that will reduce marine litter, minimize food waste, and improve air quality. We look forward to continuing constructive dialogue.”

[USA] “Cape Fear River Flooding Damages Sutton Lake, Causes Safe Shutdown of Natural Gas Plant”

[Duke Energy, 21 September 2018]  

Flooding of the Cape Fear River has cause Duke Energy’s L.V. Sutton 625 mw natural gas plant to shut down. The river’s flooding has “caused breaches in the cooling lake dam surrounding the cooling lake.” Water from the cooling lake also flowed into the natural gas plant itself. While there are two coal ash basins near the Sutton plant, Duke does not believe that the ash has breached the steel wall separating the basin and the cooling lake. Duke Energy has employees in place who are securing the area while engineers are developing and activating repair plans for the site. Duke also predicts that, based on historic data, that there is “little to no chance that cooling lake water will contribute to a measurable change to water levels in the area.”

[USA] “U.S. Becomes World’s Largest Crude Oil Producer and Department of Energy Authorizes Short Term Natural Gas Exports”

[DOE, 13 September 2018]  

The Energy Information Administration, in their Short-Term Energy Outlook, has found the US to be the largest global crude oil producer, greater than even Russia and Saudi Arabia. This past February, America’s crude oil production surpassed Saudi Arabia – a first in over 20 years. In June and then again in August, the U.S.’s crude oil production was greater than that of Russia’s for the first time since 1999. On a separate issue, the Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a short-term order for the Freeport LNG project to export up to 2.14 bcf/d of natural gas as LNG over a two-year term both to free-trade and non-free trade agreement countries; of course, this does not include countries that have been expressly banned from U.S. trade relations.

[USA] “EPA Grants $1.6 Million to Northwest and Alaska Tribal Groups to Reduce Harmful Diesel Emissions”

[EPA, 12 September 2018]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted $1.6 million to three tribal groups in the Northwest and in Alaska; the Lummi and Tulalip Tribes (in Washington state) and the Tanana Chiefs Conference in Alaska. This award will be used to replace old diesel engines and generators thereby reducing the amount of harmful emissions the tribes will be exposed to. This award is provided under the EPA’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA). DERA works to reduce diesel combustion byproducts (e.g. hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter) by funding retrofit projects, engine replacements, and promotes idle reduction. Chris Hladick, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, stated “Clean diesel technologies not only improve air quality in Indian Country, but advance innovation and support jobs. These projects will significantly reduce harmful emissions and protect public health in tribal communities.” It is interesting to note the contrast between the work of EPA’s DERA to reduce harmful emissions and the EPA top administrators’ efforts to reduce vehicle tailpipe emissions standards.

[USA] “EEI Launches Industry-Wide Environmental, Social, Governance, and Sustainability Reporting Template”

(EEI, 27 August 2018)

The Edison Electric Institute will launch an “environmental, social, governance, and sustainability-related (ESG/sustainability) reporting template;” this report is the first and only one of its kind.  It is based on voluntary reporting of both quantitative (i.e. governance methods and strategies) and qualitative data (i.e. portfolio, emissions, capital expenditures, and resources). Through this report, electricity customers can be better informed on their utility’s status in these areas. EEI’s member electric companies will also benefit as each company’s financial sector will be provided with more standardized and consistent ESG/sustainability information. Tom Kuhn, EEI’s President” said that the pilot form of this report (released in December 2017) was “well-received by investors, key stakeholders, and customers.” JPMorgan Chase’s Deputy Global Head of Sustainable Finance also applauded EEI’s efforts and stated that “as ESG goes mainstream, the disclosure template will help lenders, investors, and EEI member companies engage on the most important ESG and sustainability matters for the electric power industry.”

[USA] “National Solar Leaders Endorse Nevada’s Renewable Energy Ballot Measure: Question 6”

(SEIA, 30 August 2018)

This coming November, Nevada’s ballot will feature Question 6 – a ballot measure that would raise the state’s renewable targets to 50% by 2030. Question 6 is expected to create more jobs, grow the economy, and bolster public health. The measure has earned the support of “two leading solar organizations:” the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Vote Solar Action Fund. Abigail Ross Hopper, President and CEO of SEIA, commended the measure stating, “No state has seen the profound effect that strong policy can have on jobs and economic activity than Nevada. A strong RPS in Nevada is not only imminently achievable, but also will create massive jobs, stimulate economic activity and support air quality.” Jessica Scott of the Vote Solar Action Fund noted the support renewable energy has from all sides of the political spectrum: “Overwhelming majorities of Republican, Democratic and Independent Nevadans all want more healthy, job-creating clean energy powering their communities, and it’s exciting that they'll now have the opportunity to vote for that brighter future for their families and future generations at the ballot this fall.”

[USA] “Department of Energy Announces Technology Commercialization Fund Projects”

[DOE, 22 August 2018]

The Department of Energy has announced $20 million of funding for 64 projects; this funding will be overseen by the Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF). As these 64 projects may also receive matching funding from the private sector, the DOE hopes the projects will aid in developing the relationship between the DOE’s national labs and private businesses. U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry stated of the project, “By connecting innovators at our national labs with entrepreneurs in the private sector, DOE is breaking down barriers and finding the nexus between ingenuity and opportunity.” Projects selected for funding have a variety of focuses, including electric vehicle charging, advanced nuclear reactor development, lithium-sulfur rechargeable batteries, and carbon capture.

[USA] “DOE 2017 Wind Market Reports Indicate Strong Wind Power Installation Trends and Falling Prices”

[DOE, 23 August 2018]

The Department of Energy has released three wind energy market reports – the 2017 Distributed Wind Market Report, the 2017 Offshore Wind Technologies Market Update, and the 2017 Wind Technologies Market Report- all note that US wind installations are growing and will continue to grow as offshore wind projects are actualized and as technology costs and wind prices decrease. These three reports cover each of the three market sectors inherently tied to the wind industry: “land-based utility scale, distributed, and offshore wind.” Some of the highlights from the reports are included below:

·         In 2017, the US wind industry saw 7,017 MW of capacity installed

·         41 states have utility-scale wind projects

·         The expansion of the wind industry has led to the creation of 105,000 jobs and $11 billion in investments for new wind plants

·         35% of distributed wind projects in 2017 were installed in homes and 25% were installed at agricultural sites

·         “New offshore wind turbines are being developed with 10–12 megawatts of capacity (compared to an average capacity of 2.3 MW for land-based turbines and 5.3 MW for offshore wind turbines installed in 2017).”

[USA] “SEIA Supports Legislation to Increase Government Use of Renewable Energy”

(SEIA, 25 July 2018)

Representative Peter Welch (Democrat-Vermont) and Representative Ralph Norman (Republican – South Carolina) have introduced legislation, H.R. 6538, that will allow the General Services Administration (GSA) – an independent federal agency which oversees the “basic functioning” of the federal government such as procurement- to enter into 30 year renewable energy power purchase agreements (PPAs). Currently, only the U.S. military may enter into PPAs that last longer than 10 years. SEIA, the Solar Energy Industries Association, has expressed support for such a legislative measure and its President and CEO, Abigail Ross Hopper, stated that “this bill will help save taxpayer dollars by allowing all federal agencies to take advantage of the significant cost savings currently enjoyed by the U.S. military through the use of long-term PPAs.”

Further information on this bill can be found here: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/6538

[USA] “EEI Statement on Energy Grid Security”

(EEI, 24 July 2018)

EEI Vice President of Security and Preparedness, Scott Aaronson, issued a statement acknowledging the importance of cybersecurity in the face of repeated threats to US critical infrastructure. He noted that though there was a campaign to target US critical electric infrastructure in July 2017, the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC) was able to quickly update its response to the threat and compiled an update “with potential indicators of compromise and other technical data.” With this update, North American electric power companies would be able to better “protect and defend” their systems. E-ISAC efforts also indicate the strong relationship between industry and the government – a relationship that is vital to maintaining a strong grid. Aaronson concluded his statement by stating that “there have been no operational impacts to the energy grid from these threats.”

[USA] “Dominion Energy/SCANA Merger Receives FERC Approval”

(Dominion, 13 July 2018)

FERC has approved the proposed merger between Dominion Energy and SCANA Corporation and declared that the merger “is consistent with the public interest.” Though FERC’s approval is a big step in this merger process, Dominion and SCANA still have to receive the consent of SCANA’s shareholders, the South Carolina and North Carolina public service commissions, and an authorization from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. However, should the merger go through, the new company (Dominion/SCANA) would deliver their energy services to around 6.5 million regulated customer accounts and would “have an electric generating portfolio of about 31,400 megawatts and 93,600 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines.” The new company would also have an expanded natural gas pipeline network – amounting to 106,400 miles- and would oversee one of the country’s largest natural gas storage systems at 1 trillion cubic feet of capacity.

[USA] “Interior Announces Region-Wide Oil and Gas Lease Sale for Gulf of Mexico”

(Department of the Interior, 12 July 2018)

Deputy Secretary of the Interior (DOI), David Bernhardt, recently announced that the Department of the Interior (DOI)’s will open up 78 million offshore acres spanning Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida –titled Lease Sale 251- for the exploration and development of oil and gas resources. This regional-lease will include “all available unleased areas in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico.” This strategy is in line with Trump’s “America-First Offshore Energy Strategy.” It is speculated that the Gulf of Mexico holds around 48 billion barrels of “undiscovered technically recoverable oil and 141 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered technically recoverable gas.” Vincent DeVito, Counselor to the Secretary for Energy Policy, stated that US energy production can be both competitive and environmentally safe – and this lease will allow the US to have a secure energy future.

[USA] “Department of Energy Announces $95 Million in Small Business Research and Development Grants”

(Department of Energy, 16 July 2018)

The Department of Energy (DOE) has announced that it will provide 95 grants amounting to $95 million to 80 small businesses spanning 26 states; each award averages about $1,000,000. These grants are given for research and development efforts and are part of Phase II in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR). As mentioned by the DOE, “The SBIR and STTR programs were created by Congress to leverage small businesses to advance innovation at federal agencies.” The funders (within the DOE offices) of these awards are the Offices of: Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Fossil Energy, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics, and Nuclear Energy. These awarding offices within the DOE hint at the priorities of the DOE and their industry preferences.

[USA] “Duke Energy Carolinas Customers Lead South Carolina in Private Solar Adoption”

(Duke Energy, 12 July 2018)

Over 5,000 of Duke Energy’s customers in South Carolina have installed rooftop solar on their residential homes and businesses. Duke Energy also provides over $50 million in rebates as an “extra incentive” to encourage customers to adopt solar. Duke Energy Carolinas (a subsidiary of Duke Energy that operates in North and South Carolina) has pledged to purchase all the surplus solar produced by a rooftop solar system- similar to how utilities purchase renewable energy from large scale projects. With so many rooftop solar installations in the company’s territory, Duke Energy is ahead of schedule in its legislative (i.e. policy) goal of 40 MW of private rooftop solar by 2020 as mandated by “Act 236.” This piece of legislation – which was designed to grow the residential solar industry at a time when solar costs were higher- better enables customers to install rooftop solar by providing net metering incentives and rebates. As a side note, “the net metering incentive was a component of a larger 2014 settlement agreement with the solar industry, environmental groups and South Carolina’s utilities. 

[USA] “CIEL Statement on Judge’s Dismissal of San Francisco and Oakland Climate Lawsuits”

(Center for International Environmental Law, 25 June 2018)  

A federal judge has dismissed the lawsuits introduced by San Francisco and Oakland (California) against five oil companies (BP Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips, and Royal Dutch Shell PLC. The cities introduced the suit against these companies for knowing about climate change for decades but suppressing any action to mitigate the issue. The presiding U.S. District Judge, William Alsup, contended that while climate change is a real and serious problem, this issue should be dealt with at a higher, more global level by the political and legislative branches of the government. Alsup also stated that everyone bears blame for climate change as everyone used and benefitted from fossil fuels. However, Lisa Anne Hamilton, the Director of Climate and Energy at the Center for International Environmental Law, disagreed and said, “The dismissal of this case rests on an unfortunate belief: the false narrative that we are all equally responsible for climate change. For decades, major fossil fuel companies have known about climate change and their own contributions to it — with some, including Shell, even quantifying those contributions with surprising accuracy as early as the 1980s. Yet instead of warning the public of the dangers of fossil fuel use, these companies funded climate denial campaigns, thwarted adaptation of renewable technologies, and fought regulations while continuing to profit from the impending global crisis.

[USA] “Governor Hickenlooper Signs Executive Order Calling for State to Adopt Low Emissions Vehicle Standards”

[Colorado State, 19 June 2018]

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper recently signed an executive order that ensures the state’s vehicles will comply with low emission vehicle (LEV) standards. By doing so, Colorado will join 13 other states who have implemented such standards including California as well as Washington DC; and stands in opposition to Trump’s efforts to ease vehicle emission standards. The executive order calls on the state’s Department of Public Health and Environment to develop a ruling to implement the LEV program and asks the Department to propose that rule to the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission for “possible adoption into the Colorado Code of Regulations by December 30, 2018.” This executive order will help Colorado meet its greenhouse gas reduction target of 26% by 2025. Governor Hickenlooper said of the order, “Colorado has a choice. This executive order calls for the state to adopt air quality standards that will protect our quality of life in Colorado. “Low emissions vehicles are increasingly popular with consumers and are better for our air. Every move we make to safeguard our environment is a move in the right direction.”

[USA] “Governor Cuomo Announces New York Energy Storage Roadmap to Achieve Nation-Leading Target of 1,500 Megawatts by 2025 to Combat Climate Change”

[New York State, 21 June 2018]

On June 21, 2018 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo introduced a new comprehensive Energy Storage Roadmap that will set an energy storage target of 1,500 MW by 2025 for the state of New York. This Roadmap also encourages the energy system in New York to become cleaner, more resilient, and more affordable so “all New Yorkers…[can] combat climate change.” The Roadmap also provides short-term suggestions on how energy storage can best add value for the state’s electricity consumers. In addition, it is believed that meeting this target will add $2 billion of “gross lifetime benefits to New Yorkers” and will add another 30,000 new jobs to the industry. Governor Cuomo stated that “clean energy is the future of our planet, and New York will continue to lead the nation in this technology to fight climate change and conserve resources for generations to come.”

[USA] “Mayor Walsh Calls on Cities to Join Large-Scale Renewable Energy Initiative”

[City of Boston, 7 June 2018]

Boston, Massachusetts Mayor Martin Walsh has announced his intention to issue a “Request for Information (RFI) for competitive pricing of large-scale renewable energy projects.” The RFI aims to collect and compile data on energy demand from participating cities from across the country; it will also “ask renewable energy developers for price estimates for projects that would meet their collective energy demand.” Currently, these cities include Chicago, Evanston (also in Illinois), Houston, Los Angeles, Orlando, and Portland; these cities are also part of the Climate Mayors network (a network comprised of over 400 cities) which aims to uphold the goals of the Paris Accord. Mayor Walsh commented, “Our effort on renewable energy will not only help cities cut carbon emissions and get us closer to the goals of Paris Climate Agreement, it will help power our cities and create more, clean energy jobs. We can do more than just address the problem of climate change, we can build a healthy, thriving future by working together."