The U.S. Energy Department’s Loan Program Office issued a request for information on June 1 to update and improve its Title XVII Innovative Technologies Loan Guarantee Program intended to support early commercial use of advanced technologies. The agency seeks feedback from various stakeholders including developers, investors, government agencies, academia, and impacted communities. The input will…...
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on May 31 proposed offshore wind lease sales on the Outer Continental Shelf Offshore California. The initiative is in continuation of the agency’s previous 25 active leases in Atlantic Oceans which lie in the region of Massachusetts to North Carolina. This proposed lease sale offer is first of its…...
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on May 26 granted final approval for PacifiCorp’s 416-mile Energy Gateway South Transmission line that is designed to give the western United States greater access to solar, wind, and geothermal. Around 183 miles of the line are in Utah, with the remaining distributed among Wyoming and Colorado. According…...
The U.S. Supreme Court on May 26 rejected a petition from a coalition of states led by Louisiana to block the use of the social cost of carbon, or SCC, estimates that federal agencies were directed to incorporate in their environmental analyses of major actions by an executive order that President Joe Biden issued in…...
The thirty-first quarterly carbon auction held by California and Quebec sold all of the more than 58.3 million carbon permits offered for current emissions at a price of $30.85 per allowance, above the floor price of $19.70, according to the results released on May 26 by the California Air Resources Board. The settlement price is…...
Droughts in California are expected to reduce the state’s summer electricity generation from hydroelectricity, according to a May 26 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The impact of drought is projected to cut hydropower generation by nearly 50 percent, in comparison to normal precipitation conditions. The agency, in its report titled “Short-Term Energy Outlook…...
The U.S. Energy Department on May 18 announced savings of $15.3 billion through its energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction initiative. The Better Buildings program, a public-private partnership brings together 900 companies, utilities, housing authorities, state and local governments, and other organizations throughout the country committed to pursuing ambitious goals in energy, water, waste, and…...
The U.S. Energy Department on May 12 published a request for information seeking input on long-duration energy storage that could power the grid for at least ten hours. The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides $505 million in funding towards the Long Duration Energy Storage for Everyone, Everywhere Initiative. To achieve a carbon-free electric…...
The U.S. Department of the Interior’s wind energy auction in the Carolina Long Bay area, the second major offshore wind lease sale this year, drew competitive winning bids from two companies totaling $315 million, according to a May 11 press release. The sale offered two lease areas covering 110,091 acres in the Carolina Long Bay…...
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on May 5 announced the creation of a new office devoted to environmental justice within the Department of Justice, as well as a comprehensive enforcement strategy to guide the department’s work. The launch is part of a series of actions to secure environmental justice including an interim final rule to…...
The Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) has proposed rule amendments that would eventually allow the state to take over the approval of Class VI injection wells used to sequester carbon dioxide, a prerequisite to asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to give the state primacy over Class IV well permitting. If the EPA grants the RRC…...
The California Independent System Operator Corp. on May 3 announced that the Bonneville Power Administration and Tucson Electric Power have joined the Western Energy Imbalance Market, or WEIM. Enrolling with the WEIM allows both utilities the opportunity to achieve cost saving and lower carbon emissions for their customers. Moreover, participating in the market provides another…...