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SOLAR: Two large solar projects that have come online in South Dakota over the past year signal a new interest in solar for a state where wind energy has dominated renewable energy sources. (South Dakota News Watch)
ALSO: The Ohio Power Siting Board will hold a second public hearing on a large solar project after roughly 800 people packed a theater and public comments ran on for hours. (Knox Pages)
CARBON CAPTURE: The CEO of a multi-state carbon pipeline project maintains that it would be crucial for ethanol producers who could market low-carbon products. (NWestIowa.com)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
GRID:
WIND: Three former Minnesota high school students have used their technical training in renewable energy to support the development of an offshore wind project in Massachusetts. (Echo Journal)
RENEWABLES: Wisconsin utilities tout voluntary, subscription-based green pricing programs as a way for customers to support renewable energy investments without onsite installations. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
UTILITIES: Consumer advocates and Indiana utility NIPSCO agree on a rate increase request that’s about 75% of what the utility sought to pay for gas infrastructure investments. (Chicago Tribune)
COMMENTARY: Some Minnesota environmental groups’ newfound opposition to a statewide low-carbon fuel standard raises questions about the future of the state’s ethanol industry, a columnist writes. (Star Tribune)
CLEAN ENERGY: New York’s governor proposes a new policy that would speed up clean energy project siting by requiring approval within a year of proposal — but some legislators say there needs to be more guardrails to protect labor and farmlands. (NY Focus)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
OFFSHORE WIND:
GRID: A new joint venture intends to develop and manage 200 MWs of microgrid projects in New York. (news release)
BUILDINGS: Maryland environmental groups “feel betrayed” over a new budget amendment they say will hurt implementation of clean building provisions of a 2022 climate solutions act. (Maryland Matters)
SOLAR:
FLOODS: Heavy rain in southwest Pennsylvania this week rose river levels in Pittsburgh to the highest point in almost 20 years, flooding parks. (Trib Live)
WORKFORCE: A Massachusetts public high school will receive millions of dollars from the state to fund a clean energy education pilot project for students. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
CLEAN ENERGY: The vast majority of power on New England’s grid on March 30 — 82% — came from emissions-free energy resources, primarily wind and solar power, a feat considered unheard of just a decade ago. (Concord Monitor)
OFFSHORE WIND: Federal tax credits encourage wind project owners to repower their turbines and boost energy output, as is the case at the Twin Ridges Wind Farm near Pittsburgh. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
NUCLEAR: PSEG tells federal energy regulators it will file for license renewals in 2027 for two nuclear plants — a four-year extension for Salem’s units and a 20-year extension at Hope Creek. (World Nuclear News)
GRID:
SOLAR: A farm resort near Scranton, Pennsylvania, receives federal rural energy funds to install enough solar on a building’s roof to power 15 homes. (WVIA)
COAL: The Army Corps of Engineers says it should be able to open a limited-access channel by the end of the month to access Baltimore’s port, through which a notable chunk of the country’s coal exports pass. (BisNow)
UTILITIES:
BUILDINGS: As some municipalities fight Massachusetts’ transit-oriented development rezoning plan, officials debate how far to take the policy and where to draw the line. (CommonWealth Beacon)
EQUITY: New York City releases a new environmental equity report finding that almost half of city residents deal with “disproportionate” pollution burdens and symptoms of climate change. (The Guardian)
TRANSIT: Although New York City is implementing congestion pricing, it’s unlikely to happen soon in Washington, D.C., where the city’s mayor still refuses to release a 2019 city study on the matter. (Axios DC)
COMMENTARY:
SOLAR: Texas’ grid operator announces solar supplied more power to the grid in March than coal for the first time, marking an important milestone in the clean energy transition. (Houston Chronicle)
ALSO:
OIL & GAS:
PIPELINES: A Louisiana State University professor develops a method of fiber-optic leak detection that could supplement or replace pressure gauges as a way of rapidly detecting leaks in oil and gas pipelines. (Reveille)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
TRANSITION:
GRID:
EMISSIONS: Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin makes line-item changes to the state budget passed by Democrats that would mandate state participation in a regional carbon market. (Virginia Business)
UTILITIES:
COMMENTARY:
OFFSHORE WIND: Maine lawmakers reject a proposal from the governor to exempt offshore wind hub development on Sears Island from adhering to sand dune protections, obscuring the project’s path forward. (Bangor Daily News, Portland Press Herald)
ALSO:
SOLAR:
GRID:
STORAGE:
CARBON CAPTURE: In Pennsylvania, lawmakers advance a Republican bill establishing a regulatory framework for underground carbon dioxide-storage wells to support federally backed hydrogen hubs, but critics say it doesn’t include enough liability guarantees from involved companies. (Associated Press)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Nearly 200 electric vehicles were reportedly stalled overnight waiting for their turn at one rural Vermont charging station after the eclipse. (WCVB)
NUCLEAR: Wiscasset, Maine, officials say they’ll negotiate with the owners of the former Maine Yankee nuclear power plant about how much revenue the town will receive after a state law closed a tax exemption for the facility. (Bangor Daily News)
TRANSIT: A district court judge will soon decide whether New York has to go back to the drawing board with its Manhattan congestion tolling plan or whether it doesn’t need an environmental impact statement. (NJ Advance Media)
UTILITIES: Pennsylvania utility regulators unanimously vote to investigate a 16% rate hike request from Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania. (Penn Live)
BUILDINGS: The Efficiency Maine Green Bank will use a $15 million federal grant to support energy loans and deploy heat pumps to small businesses, homes, schools and elsewhere. (Mainebiz)
WORKFORCE:
COMMENTARY: In Vermont, the Burlington Electric Department’s general manager and a conservation program manager write that the U.S. EPA’s new final rule for vehicle emissions is a win for the state and planet. (VT Digger)
HYDROGEN: Xcel Energy says plans for an Upper Midwest hydrogen hub are jeopardized by proposed federal tax credit rules that would bar utilities from diverting existing clean energy generation to power hydrogen facilities. (Star Tribune)
SOLAR: A proposed 600 MW solar project outside Lawrence, Kansas, highlights land use debates with utility-scale developments and concerns about removing prime farmland. (Flatland)
OHIO: Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted refuse to comment so far on the apparent suicide of former regulator Sam Randazzo, who previously had their support and was a key player in the state’s largest corruption scandal in history. (ABC 5)
CLIMATE: Experts say Chicago’s climate lawsuit against major oil companies is likely to be moved back to local courts ahead of a long legal dispute with deep-pocketed companies. (Chicago Sun-Times)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
NUCLEAR: Federal regulators will hold a public information meeting next week in Michigan on an unprecedented plan to reopen a shuttered nuclear plant. (MLive)
COAL: A Congress member from Michigan co-sponsors legislation that backers say would close a loophole in federal law that allows coal companies to skirt mine remediation requirements when they file for bankruptcy. (E&E News, subscription)
UTILITIES: Ratepayers in northeastern Ohio are set for lower electricity bills this summer as FirstEnergy pays about 27% less for wholesale power at auction this year. (Cleveland.com)
COMMENTARY:
CLEAN ENERGY: The U.S. Interior Department finalizes a rule that will cut fees as much as 80% for solar and wind projects on federal land as it celebrates a milestone of permitting more than 25 GW of renewable projects under President Biden. (The Hill, Reuters)
ALSO: An Indigenous researcher says tribes need application support, better access to information, and resources to build better infrastructure, to in addition to funding to adopt clean energy. (Grist)
CLIMATE: While the world’s biggest companies are making stronger climate commitments, an analysis finds they’re still insufficient to meet Paris Agreement goals. (Grist)
GRID: About 2.6 TW of power projects — 95% of them solar, battery and wind developments — were waiting to connect to the U.S. grid at the end of last year, up 27% from the year before. (Utility Dive)
SOLAR:
HYDROGEN: Xcel Energy says plans for an Upper Midwest hydrogen hub are jeopardized by proposed federal tax credit rules that would bar utilities from diverting existing clean energy generation to power hydrogen facilities. (Star Tribune)
OIL & GAS: Oil companies challenge a federal regulation requiring former owners to clean up abandoned offshore oil and gas infrastructure along California’s coast, potentially leaving taxpayers to pick up the multimillion-dollar bill. (E&E News)
COAL:
EMISSIONS:
EFFICIENCY: Advocates push the U.S. Energy Department to speed up its updating of appliance efficiency standards. (Utility Dive)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Michigan is offering millions of dollars in funding to bolster research on recycling materials from electric vehicle batteries. (IPR)
UTILITIES: Questions still abound about the Tennessee Valley Authority CEO’s decision to replace a Tennessee coal plant with a gas plant and pipeline without public approval by the TVA board, and despite warnings from the U.S. EPA that the environmental review underlying the project was inadequate. (WPLN)
COMMENTARY: Utilities are overstating the urgency of their need for new power to meet increasing demand, and should pause to consider alternatives to gas, two clean electricity advocates write. (Utility Dive)
CLEAN ENERGY: The U.S. Interior Department finalizes a rule that will cut fees as much as 80% for solar and wind projects on federal land as it celebrates a milestone of permitting more than 25 GW of renewable projects under President Biden. (The Hill, Reuters)
ALSO: An Indigenous researcher says tribes need application support, better access to information, and resources to build better infrastructure, to in addition to funding to adopt clean energy. (Grist)
CLIMATE: While the world’s biggest companies are making stronger climate commitments, an analysis finds they’re still insufficient to meet Paris Agreement goals. (Grist)
GRID: About 2.6 TW of power projects — 95% of them solar, battery and wind developments — were waiting to connect to the U.S. grid at the end of last year, up 27% from the year before. (Utility Dive)
SOLAR:
HYDROGEN: Xcel Energy says plans for an Upper Midwest hydrogen hub are jeopardized by proposed federal tax credit rules that would bar utilities from diverting existing clean energy generation to power hydrogen facilities. (Star Tribune)
OIL & GAS: Oil companies challenge a federal regulation requiring former owners to clean up abandoned offshore oil and gas infrastructure along California’s coast, potentially leaving taxpayers to pick up the multimillion-dollar bill. (E&E News)
COAL:
EMISSIONS:
EFFICIENCY: Advocates push the U.S. Energy Department to speed up its updating of appliance efficiency standards. (Utility Dive)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Michigan is offering millions of dollars in funding to bolster research on recycling materials from electric vehicle batteries. (IPR)
UTILITIES: Questions still abound about the Tennessee Valley Authority CEO’s decision to replace a Tennessee coal plant with a gas plant and pipeline without public approval by the TVA board, and despite warnings from the U.S. EPA that the environmental review underlying the project was inadequate. (WPLN)
COMMENTARY: Utilities are overstating the urgency of their need for new power to meet increasing demand, and should pause to consider alternatives to gas, two clean electricity advocates write. (Utility Dive)
At 1.5 megawatts, the battery destined for a college campus near Petersburg, Virginia, might not be the mightiest in Dominion Energy’s growing storage fleet.
But don’t underestimate its power and reach.
In addition to providing backup power for Virginia State University’s main sports and entertainment venue, it will serve as a hands-on laboratory and research project for engineering students and faculty at the historically Black university.
“This is so exciting,” said Dawit Haile, dean of VSU’s College of Engineering and Technology. “Our students don’t know the challenges we are having to save energy when you need it later. Storage is the missing piece.”
It isn’t the first time the 4,000-student university has collaborated with the state’s biggest utility. For several years, Dominion has lined up professionals to teach students enrolled in a specialized power and energy curriculum.
That relationship prompted Haile to nudge Dominion when he found out the utility was seeking sites to test metal-hydrogen battery technology instead of a more commonplace lithium-ion model. The appeal of metal-hydrogen, a standard in the aerospace industry, is that the materials are longer-lasting and much slower to discharge.
“We were actually looking for a university so we could pull in the learning aspect,” said Dominion’s Ellen Jackson, program manager for the pilot project. “VSU really wants this to be a visible part of their campus.”
Utility regulators are now reviewing the proposal, which a hearing examiner with the State Corporation Commission has already recommended for approval. If greenlighted, it is expected to be operational by the end of 2027.
“Cost for the whole kit and caboodle is $14.4 million,” Jackson said, referencing the architectural design, construction and installation of a final product with a footprint that will likely include more than two dozen containers measuring 11 feet by 9 feet.
Haile, who has taught at VSU for 27 years, is eager for students to dive into lessons about battery configuration, building and maintenance. Collected data will help them assess efficiency, longevity and operational costs.
“So many of us take it for granted that energy powering our homes will be there, and we don’t think about the source,” he said. “Any opportunity we get to help students learn more about this profession, it’s a plus.”
The VSU pilot project is a small slice of the volume of battery storage the General Assembly expects Dominion to meet to comply with the Virginia Clean Economy Act.
By next year, that number needs to reach 250 MW. Targets are slated to rise to 1,200 MW by 2030 and then more than double to 2,700 MW by 2035. Dominion is aiming for 65% of the battery projects to be company-owned and the remainder to be power purchase agreements with third-party owners.
“We’re well on our way to meeting that first target,” said Brandon Martin, who manages a business development team that oversees Dominion’s battery projects. “We’ve seen a lot of pricing volatility, but some of that will start to work its way out.”
Thus far, Dominion has petitioned the State Corporation Commission for a total of 180 MW of battery storage projects. Of those, 98 MW are company-owned and the remaining 82 MW have third-party owners with power purchase agreements.
The largest one that regulators have approved is at Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia’s Loudoun County.
Once completed in late 2026, it will generate up to 100 MW of solar energy and store up to 50 MW of power, enough clean energy to electrify more than 37,000 Virginia homes at peak output. Dominion broke ground on that project last August.
“In the big picture, battery storage might be in its infancy, but it’s the unsung hero of the renewable energy profile,” Martin said. “It’s critical to be able to store and discharge when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing.”
Meanwhile, the 1.5 MW initiative for VSU is one of three non-lithium-ion battery projects — totaling about 10.5 MW — under review by regulators. Other pioneering projects in the mix are a 5 MW iron-air battery and a 4 MW zinc-hybrid battery that Dominion plans to install at the gas-fired Darbytown Power Station in Henrico County, near Richmond.
If approved, construction on the pair of Darbytown pilots would be operational by late 2026.
Batteries aren’t a one-size-fits-all technology, said Martin, adding that smaller projects are geared for the distribution side of electron delivery.
“Trying out nascent technologies is going to be critical for future deployment,” he said. “Utilities need to know if they’ll perform as anticipated.”
Interim energy storage targets spelled out in the Clean Economy Act allow the utility to innovate with a variety of technologies before scaling up.
The advantages of experimenting with resources other than lithium is the extended discharge time, availability and durability, Martin said. For instance, an iron-air battery can discharge power for up to 100 hours. While zinc-hybrid batteries have roughly the same discharge time as a lithium-ion model, they’re manufactured with a readily accessible chemical element.
“They don’t compete with the same raw materials,” he said, referencing the high demand for lithium for electric vehicles, cell phones and other electronics. “As you’re thinking about geopolitical concerns and price volatility, these components take that out of the mix.”
Still, Martin continued, promising ideas need a path to commercialization or they will stay on a shelf gathering dust.
“It’s exciting that this space has a number of new entrants,” he said. “Other utilities will be piloting different technologies. By not all choosing the same ones, the energy community can learn what’s successful and where much quicker.
“We want to provide as many solutions as possible at the lowest cost to customers.”
The teams that both Martin and Jackson lead have spent countless hours comparing notes with utility peer groups, technology vendors and experts at the nonprofit Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to narrow down their battery choices.
For instance, Dominion has contracted with EnerVenue, a California company, to build the metal-hydrogen battery for the VSU campus.
The company, founded in 2020 by a Stanford University materials science researcher, is borrowing the same technology that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration deployed to power signature — and distant — enterprises such as the Hubble Space Telescope, the Mars Exploration Rovers and the International Space Station.
“This is a proven chemistry that we are commercializing for the grid,” said Brad Dore, EnerVenue’s vice president of global marketing. “The difference is that NASA didn’t have to care about the cost — and we do.”
In a nutshell, here’s how it works. During the energy charging process, the water inside the vessel is split, creating hydrogen gas. At discharge, that gas recombines into water.
Such batteries can discharge for up to 12 hours, said Dore, more than double the capability of a typical lithium-ion battery.
He emphasized that the charging process is stable, repeatable and doesn’t cause the degradation common with battery chemistries such as lithium-ion. The other plus, he added, is that the metal, which is 99% nickel, means most of the battery is recyclable when it does finally wear out.
Once Dominion partnered with VSU, the utility collaborated with EPRI researchers to sort through technologies and manufacturers, as well as basics such as cost and land footprint.
“They did a lot of the legwork for us,” Jackson said about matching a battery with the 6,000-seat Multi-Purpose Center, which attracts audiences from the university and the community.
Fortunately, the battery won’t have to be shipped from California because EnerVenue announced a year ago that it is constructing an energy storage factory in Shelby County, in north central Kentucky. That will translate to a much shorter trip to the Petersburg campus three years from now.
In the meantime, Haile and fellow faculty members are creating a power storage curriculum.
The professor is already anticipating the new battery could be a springboard to attract more on-campus energy storage projects as the technology evolves.
“The potential is huge,” he said. “Our mission here is access and opportunity, so to be able to show our students what the future is, that’s a big deal.”
WIND: After “inflammatory rhetoric” about renewables discouraged bids in last year’s auction of offshore wind leases near Texas, federal officials are shifting their attention to areas off Louisiana instead. (Louisiana Illuminator)
ALSO:
CLEAN ENERGY:
OIL & GAS:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
HYDROGEN: Environmental advocates and residents who live near a proposed Appalachian hydrogen hub express concerns about the project’s potential to disrupt their lives and prolong the region’s dependence on fossil fuels. (WV Metro News)
CARBON CAPTURE: A Virginia company claims it successfully used carbon capture technology to grow lettuce at an indoor farm. (Roanoke Times)
CLIMATE:
GRID: Oklahoma lawmakers consider legislation to give utilities more of a stake in building electric transmission lines while moving oversight of bidding, construction and operations from federal to state officials. (NonDoc)
COMMENTARY: Federal money intended to fight climate change in Louisiana is set to pay for carbon capture projects that will perpetuate the oil and gas industry, writes a professor. (The Conversation)
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