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Virginia solar program delivers clean energy to elderly, low-income households
With two-plus decades of retail experience, Rachel Brown well knew her internal fraud detector should be on high alert when weighing any offer touted as “free.”. That’s why the retired quilt store owner paused — and did her homework — when a tempting overture for no-cost rooftop solar crossed the transom of her Augusta County home a year ago.
In Wisconsin, federal IRA grants could break bottleneck on climate funding
Wisconsin has ambitious climate plans, but the Republican-controlled legislature has refused to pass funding to carry them out. That’s why Wisconsin city and state leaders are especially glad for a nearly $5 billion federal initiative meant to help states and municipalities advance climate action plans. The Climate Pollution Reduction...
In Puerto Rico, residents wait for accountability, cleanup of toxic coal ash ‘caminos blancos’
The nearly 14 million people of color who live in rural America face unique challenges that run the gamut — from industry land grabs to struggles with broadband and a lack of representation in business and in government that makes it near impossible for many to cultivate generational wealth. This six-part series from the Rural News Network, with support from the Walton Family Foundation, elevates the issues these communities are facing and what some are doing to change their fates.
After slowdown in demand response signups, Minnesota considers new approach
As the growth of Xcel Energy’s demand response programs in Minnesota lags a state target, some stakeholders say it’s time to expand the use of third-party companies to enroll customers. Demand response refers to a broad range of voluntary programs in which utility customers agree to reduce energy...
Cleveland green bank aims to bring clean energy to underserved communities
A Cleveland, Ohio, green bank is leading a multi-state effort to secure a chunk of $7 billion in funding for low-income residential solar installations under the federal Inflation Reduction Act. Growth Opportunity Partners, a community development corporation focused on underserved, low- and moderate-income communities in Ohio, is spearheading an application...
How efforts to restrict democracy in Ohio also make it harder to fight climate change
Ohio’s adoption of gerrymandered voting district maps last week is the latest in a series of anti-democratic measures that thwart action to address climate change, critics say. Data from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication show a majority of Ohioans believe climate change is happening and worry about...
Massachusetts seeks to streamline approvals for community choice aggregation
Massachusetts officials are proposing policy solutions to address a bureaucratic backlog that municipal leaders and clean energy advocates say is bogging down one of the state’s most successful drivers of clean electricity purchases. Nineteen communities across the state are waiting for public utility regulators to rule on proposed community...
Backed by advocates, Duke Energy finalizes plan to help customers improve home efficiency
North Carolina clean energy advocates rarely pull punches when it comes to Duke Energy — protesting everything from the utility’s treatment of rooftop solar to its plan to slow-walk carbon reductions required under state law. But last week, they lavished praise on the company for its response to...
New Minnesota law aims to lower barrier for participating in public utility cases
Arguing against a utility before state regulators can feel like a David and Goliath battle. Utilities routinely spend millions on experts, attorneys, and computer modeling to support their requests to raise rates, upgrade equipment, or try out new programs. Consumer or environmental groups that lack the resources to dissect complicated...
Environmental justice activists issue a call to ‘wage love,’ work toward building an environmentally just Detroit
This article was produced in partnership with Planet Detroit. The question, inspired by deceased Detroit activist Charity Mahouna Hicks, formed the centerpiece of a recent gathering of Detroit environmental justice advocates. Hicks, who died from injuries sustained after being struck by a hit-and-run driver in 2014 in New York City,...
As Wisconsin utilities go their own way on net metering, advocates seek a unified approach to solar
Wisconsin utility MGE is proposing to drastically scale back the net metering rates that residents are paid for their solar generation, putting residential customers with small arrays on the same distributed generation program as commercial customers with large arrays. Advocates are asking the state Public Service Commission to deny the...
Outdated grid practices could prevent Virginia from hitting future clean energy targets
Virginia is on track to meet short-term carbon-free targets laid out in the sweeping Clean Economy Act of 2020. And advocates agree that’s remarkable considering almost 44,000 megawatts of wind, solar and energy storage projects proposed across the state are stalled in a gummed-up transmission interconnection queue. Still, they...
State, federal funding fuels expansion of Minnesota microgrid research center
A St. Paul, Minnesota, college’s microgrid research center is preparing to expand after securing significant new state and federal funding. The University of St. Thomas’ Center for Microgrid Research plans to triple its three-person staff and enroll more students thanks to money from a $7.5 million state legislative appropriation and $11 million in federal defense bill earmarks secured by U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum.
‘Falsified’ public comments loom over Ohio state parks drilling decisions
An Ohio commission is poised to rule on proposals to drill under state parks and wildlife areas before the conclusion of an investigation into fabricated public comments submitted in favor of the proposals. The Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission deferred a decision Monday in order to allow more...
Massachusetts’ clean peak incentive puts battery storage project on track
A battery storage development is replacing a fossil-fuel-burning power plant in western Massachusetts, providing a model that supporters say could be emulated elsewhere. The project is only financially viable, however, because of a unique state incentive program designed to cut emissions related to peak electricity demand. Power company Cogentrix is...
Ohio disconnection data still lacks detail on racial disparities
Consumer advocates still lack access to data that would let them determine the extent of any racial disparities in Ohio utility shutoffs for customers’ failure to pay gas and electric bills. Information about what share of disconnections affect people of color, low-income families, seniors or other vulnerable groups would...
Virginia solar alliance hopeful after regulators suspend new interconnection rules
Secure Solar Futures president Tony Smith barely paused to celebrate last week’s David vs. Goliath victory for small-scale commercial projects. The bustling but tiny solar operation he founded just couldn’t spare the time for a party. Still, he’s jubilant utility regulators put the kibosh on Dominion Energy’s attempt...
As Duke Energy rate hikes loom in N.C., deal could lessen blow for energy burdened
Queen Greene of Roxboro, North Carolina, was among the many Duke Energy customers who spoke out this year against the company’s proposed rate hike. “I should not have to choose between food this month and how much electricity I can use,” Greene said at a March public hearing in her hometown, about 30 miles north of Durham. “Why should I have to choose to be cold during the winter and hot during the summer?”
In unexpected move, New Hampshire utilities voice support for solar net metering
New Hampshire’s electric utilities have come out in favor of continuing the state’s current system for compensating customers who share surplus solar power on the grid. Eversource, Unitil, and Liberty Utilities surprised clean energy advocates by submitting joint testimony to state regulators last month endorsing the state’s current net metering structure. The program credits customers roughly 75% of the standard electricity rate for any unused solar generation that flows back onto the grid and is used by other customers.
Minnesota program helps manufacturers train their teams for an all-electric future
Thermo King, headquartered in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, has for decades manufactured diesel-powered refrigeration and heating units for use in semi-trailers, trains, ships and buses. The company’s logo can be seen on ubiquitous “reefer” trailers being pulled along highways across the country. As Thermo King has...
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