The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on July 30 proposed changes to remove restrictions from a 2015 rule, which limited coal ash use to 12,400 tons per site. The proposal is the agency’s latest effort to weaken the the Obama-era rule governing the disposal of coal ash, a toxic byproduct of coal-fired power plants. EPA is…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Aug. 1 proposed a rule to simplify the New Source Review program, which governs emission permits for building new or significantly retrofitted industrial facilities including power plants. The proposed rule clarifies that both projected emissions increases and decreases from a project can be considered during the first step of…
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on July 23 announced the formation of the Division of LNG Facility Review & Inspection to manage the growing number and complexity of proposals to develop liquefied natural gas export terminals. The new division, which will be a part of the agency’s Office of Energy Projects, will include 20 existing…
Ohio state lawmakers approved legislation on July 23 requiring electric customers to pay new monthly surcharges from 2021 through 2027 to raise $150 million per year to subsidize FirstEnergy Solutions Corp.’s ailing nuclear plants. Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, signed the bill into law, making Ohio the fifth state in the nation to prop up…
As legislatures adjourn, U.S. states take stock of their progress on expanding clean energy and climate policies. Measures to tackle greenhouse gas emissions have long been a political lightning rod, but mechanisms like carbon pricing are coming up more regularly in legislative sessions and evolving to play a key role in the shift to a low-carbon economy.
The New Hampshire Supreme Court on July 19 ruled in favor of the state’s decision that denied a key permit for Eversource Energy to construct its 192-mile Northern Pass transmission line designed to supply hydro power from Hydro-Quebec’s dams in Canada to New England. Last February, the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee, the state agency…
The Hawaiian Electric Company has submitted a plan with state regulators for its largest-ever renewable energy solicitation, seeking about 900 megawatts of new renewable generation capable of delivering nearly 2 million megawatt-hours each year, according to a July 17 filling. Pending regulatory approval, the utility plans to issue the final RFPs by August 9 and…
Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker, a Democrat, signed legislation that allows a one-year extension of the date by which the Illinois Power Agency is required to deliver renewable energy credits from new utility-scale wind and solar projects acquired through long-term contracts. The bill sets a June 1, 2022 deadline for the agency to begin supplying…
Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo on July 18 announced the selection of two projects totaling 1.7 gigawatts in New York’s first comprehensive offshore wind solicitation. Cuomo also signed legislation, which requires a carbon-neutral power system by 2040 and codifies the state’s targets of 6 gigawatts of solar by 2025, 3 gigawatts of energy storage by 2030,…
The Ohio state Senate approved legislation on July 17 that would require electric customers to pay new monthly surcharges from 2021 through 2027, raising $150 million per year to subsidize FirstEnergy Solutions Corp.’s ailing nuclear plants. The revised version of the bill, which passed the House in May, would scale back the state’s renewable portfolio…
Carbon emissions from coal are expected to fall by 169 million metric tons in 2019, the largest decline since 2015, due largely to changes in the electricity mix with natural gas becoming the dominant power generation fuel, according to a July 15 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. U.S. energy-related emissions are projected to…
Lawmakers in California quickly approved legislation providing investor-owned utilities with $21 billion to help them pay for wildfire damages linked to their transmission equipment. Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill on July 12. The bill gives companies two options. One is a $10.5 billion state-backed line of credit to pay for wildfire damages that…
