The U.S. Department of Transportation on March 7 announced the availability of $1.47 billion in competitive grant funded by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to help transform bus fleets and facilities across America, which will aid high paying careers and help lower carbon emissions. This includes $1.1 billion funding to state and local…...
The Florida legislature on March 7 approved a utility-backed bill that would phase down compensation for surplus power sent back to the grid by home solar customers by 50 percent from 2024 through 2028, and decrease further to the avoided cost rate by 2029. The bill would allow utilities to impose new charges on those…...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on March 7 proposed new emissions requirements for the medium and heavy-duty truck sector, to begin in model year 2027. The new standards are aimed at reducing emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from heavy-duty gasoline and diesel engines and setting updated greenhouse gas standards for certain categories. The proposed action…...
The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, the Department of Environmental Protection and the Board of Public Utilities released a new guidebook named “Charge Up Your Town – Best Management Practices to Ensure Your Town is EV Ready” on March 8. This handbook will give municipalities a plan to become electric vehicle ready, from implementing…...
The U.S. Energy Department unveiled a study on March 7, which indicates that by 2030 nearly half of medium- and heavy-duty truck purchases, operations, and maintenance will be cheaper for those equipped with zero-emission engines than conventional engines powered by diesel fuel. The study, conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, highlights that clean trucks…...
The U.S. Interior Department on March 4 announced a funding of $144 million is accessible to states and Tribes for abandoned mine land, or AML, retrieval efforts in fiscal year 2022. This builds upon the $725 million fiscal year 2022 investment from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to speed up cleaning up of…...
U.S. President Joe Biden announced on March 8 that the U.S. will ban imports of Russian oil and gas and energy, “targeting the main artery of Russia’s economy.” This is latest action taken by the Biden administration in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began nearly two weeks ago. Biden noted that the effort…...
Commonwealth Edison Company filed a $1.7 billion plan with the Illinois Commerce Commission to expand initiatives for energy efficiency and low-income assistance from 2022-2025, according to a March 2 news release. The four-year plan updates the energy efficiency plan that the commission approved in 2021 to reflect changes enabled by the state’s new clean energy…...
Russia’s attack on Ukraine has roiled global markets, causing oil prices to soar at a time when the world is recovering from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. The conflict, entangled with the global energy crisis, has been met with heavy economic sanctions from the U.S. and most European countries. Companies across the oil and gas value chain have also announced plans to abandon investments in Russia.
Avista Utilities and Tacoma Power on March 2 began their participation in the Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) operated by the California Independent System Operator Corp. The two utilities serve a combined 600,00 electric customers in the Pacific Northwest. The enrollment expands the utilities’ ability to incorporate additional renewable energy while continuing to meet the…...
A group of 18 U.S. Senators on March 3 introduced legislation called the “Ban Russian Energy Imports Act” aimed to prohibit the import of Russian crude oil, petroleum, petroleum production, liquified natural gas and coal, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The bill would declare a national emergency with respect to Russian aggression and at once…...
