New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, on June 16, announced the approval of $567 million to help low-income households pay off accumulated utility bills incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 327,000 low-income customers will benefit from the electric and gas utility bills credit program. This financial assistance includes an estimated $557 million COVID-19 bill…...
The California Public Utilities Commission on June 15 allotted proposed orders enforcing curative actions and more than $22 million in fines to be paid by the shareholders of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric for violations associated with their 2020 Public Safety Power Shutoff, or PSPS,…...
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on June 16 announced a proposed rule to address backlogs in the interconnection queue that, if finalized, could accelerate grid interconnection processes. The increased demand for energy compels the commission to expedite and streamline the process of connecting electric generation facilities to the grid. More than 1.4 terawatts of generation…...
The U.S. Department of the Interior issued the final endorsement and orchestrated solar projects in Arica and Victory Pass in the vicinity of Desert Center Eastern Riverside County. This project will add 465 megawatts of power in the national grid system along with 400 megawatt battery storage which will provide power to approximately 132,000 homes…...
The U.S. Transportation Department has commenced setting standards for constructing a nationwide network of 500,000 electric vehicle chargers by 2030. To this end, the department’s Federal Highways Administration announced a notice of proposed rulemaking to set standards for electric vehicle charging stations under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, or NEVI, program. The minimum standards to…...
The Illinois Commerce Commission on June 10 issued a request for information seeking input on Illinois public utilities’ plan to apply for federal dollars under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). This information would assist the state of Illinois to quantify the eligibility of these utilities and to study how the state can help…...
The U.S. Energy Department on June 13 introduced new energy-efficiency standards for residential gas furnaces that would drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce consumers’ energy costs every year. The new initiative would demand that all non-weatherized gas furnaces, as well as furnaces installed in mobile households, have a yearly fuel efficiency of 95 percent…....
The Bureau of Land Management on June 10 issued a new policy relating to geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide on public lands amid the rising interest in siting carbon dioxide injection and pipelines on public lands. This policy is part of a broader plan to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and…...
The U.S. Energy Department announced the closing of a $504.4 million loan guarantee for a hydrogen storage project to be developed by Mitsubishi Power Americas and Magnum Development in Utah. The loan will be utilized to develop the largest clean hydrogen storage facility in the world. This marks the department’s first loan guarantee for a…...
The U.S. Department of the Interior on June 6, 2022 announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will perform an environmental assessment of the first proposed wind energy project offshore Maryland. Key parts of the proposal consist of construction and operation of an offshore wind project with a total capacity between 1.1 and 2…...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on June 3 announced a slew of measures to bolster the Renewable Fuel Standard, or RFS, program in pursuit of climate goals set out in the Clean Air Act. The final standards require blending of 20.63 billion gallons of renewable fuels into gasoline and diesel this year, slightly lower than…...
The New York legislature on June 2 passed a bill aimed to stop cryptocurrency mining operations that use fossil fuels to power their facilities. The bill would amend the existing Environment Conservation Law to ban operations that use “proof-of-work authentication” methods to validate blockchain transactions. Proof-of-work authentication methods refer to consensus algorithm in a block-chain…...