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 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. 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…...
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…...
Several states that have ambitious clean energy and emissions reduction mandates are investigating the role of natural gas in the shift to a low-carbon power system. Actions at the federal level, spurred by the Biden administration’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, are also catalyzing efforts to decarbonize the gas system.
