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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...
Grants would help less affluent New Hampshire towns invest in public solar projects
New Hampshire’s energy department is preparing to road-test a grant program meant to help disadvantaged cities and towns access the environmental and financial benefits of solar power. The state plans to use $1.4 million from the 2021 federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Act to help fund the installation of solar projects...
Commission claims court can’t review decisions on drilling under Ohio park and wildlife areas
An Ohio commission is arguing its decisions last fall to allow oil and gas drilling under a state park and two wildlife areas are final and cannot be appealed. Environmental groups challenging the Ohio Oil & Gas Land Management Commission say it failed to follow state law when it approved land parcels for leasing of drilling rights at Salt Fork State Park, Zepernick Wildlife Area and Valley Run Wildlife Area. Among other things, state law says the commission must consider nine factors in reaching its decisions, including environmental impacts, consequences for visitors or users of state lands, public comments or objections, economic issues, and others.
Xcel Energy proposes time-of-use rates as the default option for Minnesota customers
Xcel Energy customers in Minnesota will likely soon have good reason to hold off on running dishwashers or charging vehicles until bedtime. The state’s largest utility is asking regulators to approve a major change to how residential customers have paid for their electricity for decades. In December, the company...
Virginia legislation aims to unleash competition to speed progress on clean electricity
Newly empowered Virginia Democrats are pushing legislation this session that would elevate the role of customers and private developers in meeting the state’s clean energy targets. A chief aim of the ARC bill — shorthand for Affordable, Reliable and Competitive — is to significantly expand the amount of power...
Connecticut program aims to alleviate cost barriers to utility oversight process, but challenges remain
Connecticut’s utilities commission is the latest to begin offering payments to help environmental justice and ratepayer groups participate in regulatory proceedings. The Stakeholder Group Compensation Program was required to take effect this month as part of an energy consumer protection bill passed by the state legislature last year. It seeks to encourage more diverse engagement in proceedings on utility regulation, which can set direction for grid resiliency, rate relief, clean energy development, corporate accountability, storm response and more.
Virginia districts roll on with electric school buses despite lack of state funding
A lack of state money isn’t curbing Virginia school districts’ enthusiasm for ridding their fleets of polluting, noisy diesel-powered buses. Through December, Virginia ranked fourth nationwide in the number of electric school buses either on the road or on order. Its 260 total was surpassed by only California, Maryland, and New York, according to data compiled by the nonprofit World Resources Institute.
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