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Last week, the Biden administration announced a big boost for the country’s burgeoning electric vehicle charging network. The U.S. Department of Transportation picked 47 EV charging projects to receive nearly $623 million in funding under the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.
The projects include a $15 million network of chargers across Maine, $51.5 million for alternative fuel corridors in Puerto Rico, and a $67.8 million for electric truck and other chargers in New Mexico.
The funding is a much-needed stimulus for the U.S. charging network, which remains spotty in much of the country. So far only New York and Ohio have opened charging stations using bipartisan infrastructure law funding, and a handful of other states have broken ground on their EV projects, the Associated Press reports. As of last January, there were only about 20,000 publicly accessible, high-speed Level 3 chargers across the country.
But by 2050, the National Renewable Energy Lab estimates the country will have another 40 million EVs on the road. That means we’ll need at least 182,000 Level 3 chargers across the country by 2050 to accommodate them — and a lot more private and government funding to get them all built.
📉 Power emissions fall: U.S. power sector emissions dropped 8% in 2023 from the year before, largely thanks to a record number of new solar and utility-scale battery installations and a decline in coal use. (Canary Media)
🥶 Gas’ winter worries: An environmental group’s new report warns about the vulnerability of gas plants during extreme temperatures and cautions against the “vicious cycle” of investing in new gas-fired resources. (Utility Dive)
🌪️ Billion-dollar climate disasters: The U.S. saw a record number of billion-dollar disasters last year, facing 28 instances of intense flooding, tornadoes, and other severe weather. (Yale Climate Connections)
💰 Utilities’ roundabout influence: An investigation finds power companies have courted and at times co-opted more than two dozen Black civil rights leaders in the Southeast to help divert attention from environmental harms related to fossil fuel plants. (Capital B/Floodlight)
📹 Subscribing to climate denial: YouTube creators that have long pushed climate skepticism now seek to discredit renewable energy and other climate solutions. (CNBC)
😶🌫️ Cooking with gas? Testing reveals gas stoves release hazardous levels of pollutants that can be harmful to vulnerable populations, but protective measures can reduce those risks. (Washington Post)
🏠 Clean energy’s equity shortcoming: Low-income households could benefit most from clean energy upgrades such as heat pumps and solar panels but often don’t have access to financing or government incentives to afford them. (New York Times)
⛰️ A coal-to-solar solution: An energy company’s plan to build a solar farm on a mountaintop removal mine site in Kentucky could become a model to repurpose environmentally disturbed sites in Appalachia for renewables. (Daily Yonder)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The U.S. EPA announces nearly $1 billion in grants for schools to replace diesel buses with electric and low-emissions vehicles, with a vast majority going to schools in low-income, rural and tribal communities. (Guardian)
ALSO:
CLEAN ENERGY: Upfront cost is the biggest barrier to home energy upgrades like swapping out gas stoves, while lowering energy costs and environmental impact is a top motivator, a survey finds. (Canary Media)
CLIMATE:
OIL & GAS:
HYDROGEN:
CARBON CAPTURE: The U.S. EPA’s decision last month to hand over carbon capture permitting to state officials in Louisiana has environmental advocates worried that economic considerations will trump public health. (Grist)
STORAGE: A subsidiary of LG Energy Solution plans to build 10 grid-scale battery storage projects in the U.S. this year following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. (Utility Dive)
SOLAR: Hawaii advocates say lower payments for customers’ surplus rooftop solar power could incentivize customers to install arrays for their own use rather than exporting to the grid, imperiling the state’s energy transition. (Hawaii Public Radio)
UTILITIES: Following the defeat of a ballot measure to replace Maine’s investor-owned utilities with a consumer-owned power company, policymakers and advocates explore new ways to improve service. (Maine Morning Star)
COAL: Two years later, West Virginia lawmakers have yet to act on a workgroup’s recommendations for revitalizing devastated coalfield communities. (Mountain State Spotlight)
COMMENTARY: Solar farms built beyond a certain size have the ability to affect cloud cover and weather, impacting solar power production in faraway areas, two researchers find. (The Conversation)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Virginia schools have used federal funding, public-private partnerships and direct purchases to become the state with fourth highest number of electric school buses despite limited state funding for bus electrification. (Energy News Network)
ALSO:
SOLAR:
OIL & GAS:
FINANCE: An investigation finds that half the funds banned by Texas for “boycotting” fossil fuel industries actually invested a combined $5 billion directly into oil and gas, and two thirds of such funds have more than $13 billion invested in Texas-based companies. (Bloomberg)
STORAGE: An energy company begins operation of a 150 MW battery storage system in Texas. (Houston Chronicle)
GRID:
CLIMATE: Data shows the average temperature in 2023 was Texas’ hottest ever, clocking 3.5 degrees above the average for the 20th century. (Texas Tribune)
COMMENTARY:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The Biden administration awards $623 million for 47 electric vehicle charging projects across the country, with the money set to fund 7,500 new charging ports. (Associated Press)
ALSO:
EMISSIONS: U.S. power sector emissions dropped 8% in 2023 from the year before, largely thanks to a record number of new solar and utility-scale battery installations. (Canary Media)
CLIMATE:
CLEAN ENERGY: The world’s renewable energy capacity skyrocketed in 2023, growing at its fastest pace in 20 years, the International Energy Agency says. (Guardian)
OIL & GAS:
BUILDINGS:
SOLAR:
POLITICS: Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy says long-stalled energy project permitting reform will likely only happen as part of a bipartisan “grand bargain” that would need to include more precise pollutant measurements. (The Hill)
PIPELINES: After failed efforts to change state law, Iowa lawmakers suggest that blocking the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines may require intervention by the U.S. Supreme Court. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
A new year is here, and so are some big new clean energy developments, including the arrival of federal incentives that could boost the hydrogen and electric vehicle industries.
Here’s what you may have missed over the last two weeks:
🚗 Making EV incentives easier: New federal incentives for electric vehicles just took effect, allowing buyers to instantly access up to $7,500 toward a new EV and $4,000 toward a used one instead of waiting for a tax refund. At least 7,400 car dealers have signed up to offer the incentives. (Grist, The Hill)
💵 Hydrogen rules are here: The Biden administration released draft guidance for its hydrogen tax credit, which prioritize low- and zero-emission hydrogen production. Industry leaders say the rules go too far and will slow growth. (E&E News, Utility Dive)
☣️ Acknowledging coal ash dangers: A draft risk assessment published by the U.S. EPA for the first time says using coal ash as structural fill in road and other building projects can cause an elevated cancer risk from radiation, validating the concerns of residents and activists around the country. (States Newsroom, Energy News Network archives)
🔥 A hot new normal: As 2023 becomes the hottest year on record, scientists predict its extreme temperatures will soon become normal and that 2024 will be even hotter than last year. (Axios, Washington Post)
🥇 States lead on climate: Clean electricity standards enacted in Minnesota and Michigan bookended a year of state-level climate progress that included gas hookup restrictions and new funding for clean energy manufacturing. (E&E News)
🕯️ How gas keeps its power: U.S. gas utilities serving more than 35 million customers offer builders and contractors incentives to keep fossil fuels in new buildings, part of a longstanding relationship that could impede electrification. (The Guardian)
🤝 Labor meets climate: Last year saw significant collaboration between the labor and climate movements as UPS drivers fought for extreme heat safety measures, and autoworkers demanded fair wages amid a transition to electric vehicles. (Grist)
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