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Ohio county sees dueling studies on solar project payments, but only one disclosed its data
A property-tax alternative chosen by an Ohio county will likely give it more total financial benefits from a proposed solar project than the property tax option would, according to an independent academic analysis. The Ohio State University analysis undercuts recent claims by critics who have alleged the payments in lieu...
The race heats up for massive IRA state and local climate funding program
State and local governments across the country are finalizing plans and preparing applications for a $5 billion federal climate grant program under the Inflation Reduction Act. The EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) program has already distributed almost half a billion dollars to participating states and metropolitan areas to develop...
A new North Carolina factory will build large power transformers. How do they help the clean energy transition?
Big boxes of steel, iron, and mineral oil. That’s how John Gajda, a long-time utility engineer and professor at North Carolina State University, describes the power transformers Siemens Energy plans to build in Charlotte. The hunks of metal are named for their vital function: transforming the electricity produced at...
Virginia lawmakers delay decision on Dominion Energy’s offshore wind monopoly
Renewable energy advocates have vowed to double down next year on legislation designed to enable competition with Dominion Energy on offshore wind projects serving Virginia. A legislative committee unanimously tabled a proposal to let private developers compete with the utility on offshore wind procurement. The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee’s late January decision to push Senate Bill 578 onto the 2025 agenda followed intense lobbying from Dominion Energy to protect its monopoly.
For a Chicago artist, Afrofuturism inspires a vision for confronting climate change
As a longtime fan of George Clinton — a funk pioneer who bent and blended multiple music genres with science fiction imagery — Chicago-based artist Cydney Lewis always had a sense of consciousness beyond the limits of the physical plane. But she wasn’t aware of the larger Afrofuturism...
Virginia legislation would activate state program to fund electric school buses
Virginia is on a roll transitioning to electric school buses. And that momentum could remain uninterrupted if legislators activate a precedent-setting but dormant initiative to tap into state dollars. Freshman Del. Holly Seibold has submitted a budget amendment this legislative session asking Virginia to catch up with other states by...
Minnesota reboots community solar program with new focus on lower-income residents
Minnesota community solar developers are adjusting their business plans as the state’s program undergoes some of the biggest changes since its launch over a decade ago. One of the oldest and largest in the country, Minnesota’s community solar program has spurred development of more than 800 megawatts worth of solar capacity since launching in 2013. Customers subscribe to shares of projects and receive monthly credits on their utility bills, typically lowering overall energy costs.
Environmental justice groups ask feds to resist weakening rules on clean hydrogen tax credit
Almost 50 environmental justice groups on Tuesday sent a letter to leaders of the federally-funded Midwestern hydrogen hub, imploring them not to try to loosen requirements for tax incentives for hydrogen produced with clean energy. The U.S. Treasury in December published draft rules saying that to receive lucrative 45V tax...
North Carolina court hears challenge to Duke Energy’s reduced credits for rooftop solar
The debate over rooftop solar in North Carolina entered the courtroom on Wednesday, when a three-judge Court of Appeals panel heard a challenge to Duke Energy’s reduced payments for home solar arrays. “We are here this morning because a terrible injury has been inflicted on the rooftop solar industry...
Nine states pledge to boost heat pumps to 90% of home equipment sales by 2040
Environmental agencies in nine states will work together to reduce planet-warming carbon emissions by making electric heat pumps the norm for most new home HVAC equipment sales by 2040. The memorandum of understanding, spearheaded by the inter-agency nonprofit Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management, or NESCAUM, was released today...
In North Carolina, Duke Energy to offer rebates for rooftop solar paired with batteries
It’s called the “solar coaster:” The ups and downs the industry faces as solar-friendly policies ebb and flow. And in North Carolina, rooftop installers are in the middle of one wild ride. On the heels of cutting bill credits for residential solar panels in October, Duke Energy...
A gold star for EV Readiness: Chicago-area program prepares communities for electric vehicle adoption
University Park is a small suburb south of Chicago, built around sprawling warehouses for companies like Clorox, Amazon and Solo Cup that attract a steady stream of diesel truck traffic. Its residents, 88% of whom are African American, are also exposed to pollution from a steel and wire processing facility relocated there from a gentrifying Chicago neighborhood, as well as steel mills and an oil refinery in nearby Northwest Indiana.
More questions than answers after Massachusetts order to transition from natural gas
Massachusetts utilities, regulators, and lawmakers are beginning to chart their next steps following an order issued two months ago that signaled the beginning of the end of natural gas in the state. While hailed as a transformational win by clean energy advocates, the Dec. 6 decision is light on specifics,...
Polls show most conservatives like clean energy. So why isn’t the North Carolina GOP doing more to support it?
Clean energy is aligned with conservative values. So says North Carolina Rep. Kyle Hall, a Republican legislator in his fifth term from a small town near Winston-Salem. “It’s conservative to support market competition, consumer savings, property rights, and innovation,” Hall said at an event last November, when he received an award for spearheading a bill to promote rooftop solar and other clean energy measures in 2023.
Facing demand increase, Duke Energy seeks to delay its 2030 climate target in North Carolina
Facing a massive projected increase in electricity demand, Duke Energy on Wednesday proposed what advocates called a “tripling down” of new gas plants and scuttling a 2030 deadline to significantly curb its carbon pollution. An update of a proposal submitted last summer, the bid comes after the company...
Five years later, New Hampshire’s community power law is reshaping the electricity market
Member towns in New Hampshire’s year-old Community Power Coalition are reaping the benefits of banding together to buy electricity on their own. As of Feb. 1, residential and small commercial customers in the coalition’s 16 active member communities will pay a base electricity rate of 8.1 cents per kilowatt-hour, a 26% reduction from their already-competitive rate of 10.9 cents per kWh.
Advocates worry hydrogen hub will fuel environmental injustice in Northwest Indiana
Indiana environmental and citizen groups say a lack of transparency for a planned regional hydrogen fuel hub is stoking fears that the project will primarily benefit polluting heavy industries – though the federally funded program is meant to be part of a clean energy transition. “If we don’t get...
Minneapolis solar nonprofit is proving patience can bring results to lower-income residents
One installation at a time, a solar nonprofit that matches socially conscious investors’ cash with lower-income homeowners is spreading the benefits of solar in North Minneapolis. Solstar was formed three years ago by solar entrepreneur Ralph Jacobson following his retirement from IPS Solar, the pioneering Twin Cities’ solar company...
Federal agency, Energy Harbor seek to keep citizen groups out of Perry nuclear plant case
A Nuclear Regulatory Commission panel will hear arguments Tuesday about whether two citizen groups can challenge Energy Harbor’s application to extend the life of Ohio’s Perry nuclear plant through 2046. The Ohio Nuclear-Free Network and Beyond Nuclear say they are worried about potential radioactive leaks into Lake Erie,...
Maine environmental groups urge support for proposed offshore wind port ahead of siting decision
Some environmental advocates are striking a new tone as they urge skeptical neighbors to see the larger climate benefits of a proposed port that would help build future offshore wind farms in the Gulf of Maine. The fast-warming area of the North Atlantic is thought to have one of the...
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