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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to finalize more than $200 million in grant funding in the coming weeks to accelerate the clean energy transition at three Great Lakes shipping ports.
The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority, and the Illinois International Port District were each selected for grants last month under the Biden administration’s Clean Ports Program.
The U.S. EPA said it intends to finalize grant agreements by December or January. That action will obligate the federal government to pay roughly $3 billion in grants under the program, even if President-elect Donald Trump or the next Congress tries to repeal or block further action under the Inflation Reduction Act.
The $94 million grant announced for the Cleveland port is the largest it has ever received and will help it build on work that’s already underway to electrify and decarbonize its infrastructure.
“It puts us at the forefront of decarbonization,” said William Friedman, president and chief executive officer of Cleveland’s port authority. “Now we’ll be able to start figuring out what’s the phase-in and then how do we move forward with the next round.”
The Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority will get approximately $25 million for solar panels, charging infrastructure and electric cargo handling equipment, and another $95 million will go to the Illinois EPA for solar, battery storage and hydrogen-related investments at the Illinois International Port District serving greater Chicago.
The largest share of grants will go to ports along the East and West coasts. “But the program is also intended to set the foundation for transitioning the entire port industry to zero emissions,” said Jennifer Macedonia, a deputy assistant administrator for U.S. EPA. “And there are important communities around many of our inland ports as well.”
The shipping industry accounts for roughly 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. While the bulk of that is from ships themselves, port operations typically rely on diesel power for most of their energy. And ships often burn fuel to power equipment even while they’re in port.
The EPA’s review process included ensuring that selected projects can achieve or exceed goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as other pollution that can affect nearby communities, said U.S. EPA Administrator Michael Regan. Those criteria air pollutants are ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, lead, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.
The work is especially important for Ohio, which has lagged other Midwest states and regions in deploying strategies to reduce greenhouse gases, said Valerie Katz, deputy director for Cuyahoga Green Energy. “Our regional decarbonization efforts will reduce environmental exposure to toxic air pollutants for downstream Ohio communities.”
Funding for the Port of Cleveland will encompass work for electric cargo-handling equipment and vessels that serve the port, along with solar generation and battery storage, charging infrastructure and shore power for vessels. Project partners include Logistec USA, the commercial operator for day-to-day operations, as well as the Great Lakes Towing Company, which will build two electric tug boats.
Decarbonization is a “competitive advantage that will attract more shipping volume to our port,” said Baiju Shah, president and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Partnership. “Companies are striving to reduce their environmental footprints through their operations and value chains,” including Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions. “In addition, electrifying the port operations supports our region’s clean air efforts.”
That’s especially important given the port’s location near the downtown lakefront and riverfront areas, Shah said. Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River are the focus for several waterfront development projects aimed at drawing more business and visitors to Cleveland.
Funding for the Port of Detroit will go toward electric cargo-handling equipment, some vessels and railcar movers, along with charging infrastructure and solar generation. Part of the money also will be used to develop a roadmap for adding EV and hydrogen fueling infrastructure. The Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority is part of the Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen, or MachH2, which was selected last year for $1 billion in Department of Energy funding for a hydrogen hub.
Funding for the Illinois International Port District will cover a variety of projects for its three ports, including hydrogen fueling infrastructure, solar energy and battery storage, and hydrogen and electric cargo handling equipment. Hydrogen and electric locomotives also are on EPA’s program selections list. The Illinois EPA is the lead partner for the grant work.
Like its counterpart in Cleveland, the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority had already begun working on plans to move to cleaner energy sources for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. But zero-emissions equipment to move cargo is new in the U.S. shipping industry and is still generally more expensive than fossil-fueled counterparts.
“What’s great about the EPA grant is that it helps these businesses make the decision to choose this cleaner technology,” said Mark Schrupp, executive director for the Detroit port authority. Over time, costs for such equipment should come down, but the grants will help launch market growth.
Various projects among the 55 selected for grants last month have planning components and provisions for community engagement or workforce development. Planning work on emissions inventories can position other ports to move ahead with clean energy in the future, Macedonia said.
The U.S. EPA plans to move ahead swiftly to finalize grant agreements, which will have the effect of protecting the funds from a possible clawback under Trump or the next Congress.
“We will be awarding the grants in December of 2024 and January of 2025… so that money will be obligated on or before the end of this administration,” Regan said. Depending on the projects, implementation will occur over the next three to four years.
In Cleveland, that means a big chunk of work under the new grant will be taking place even as renovation of the Port of Cleveland’s Warehouse A and electrical work take place under its current projects.
“We’ll have to throw a lot here at the engineers and construction project management people to figure this out,” Friedman said. Yet the timing means it will be that much sooner for the port to move to zero emissions for its own operations.
ELECTRIFICATION: A California startup will receive a $32 million contract to design and install 10,000 induction stoves using standard 120-volt outlets in New York City public housing units. (Heatmap News)
OFFSHORE WIND:
FOSSIL FUELS: Environmental advocates push for the closure of two fossil fuel-fired “peaker” power plants in Brooklyn that only run a few times a year. (Gothamist)
CLIMATE:
BIOMASS: Vermont’s first food-waste-to-renewable-energy plant opens, with plans to use anaerobic digestion to process waste from the state’s food industry. (news release)
HEAT PUMPS: Long Island has already exceeded state goals for heat pump installations by 2025, and is a leader in electric vehicle adoption as well, say officials. (Newsday, subscription)
TRANSPORTATION:
SOLAR: A new solar installation in Vermont, one of the state’s largest, uses tracking technology to follow the sun and maximize power generation. (Renewable Energy Magazine)
COMMENTARY: Massachusetts is putting too much emphasis on offshore wind development and should give greater consideration to nuclear power, says an advocate for a pro-nuclear organization. (CommonWealth Beacon)
EMISSIONS: The U.S. EPA announces $3 billion to deploy zero-emission freight and ferry infrastructure to curb ports’ climate impacts. (Associated Press)
ALSO:
UTILITIES: Climate change and the clean energy transition add to complications for utilities looking to shore up system resilience. (Utility Dive)
GRID:
SOLAR:
POLITICS:
LITHIUM: The U.S. Energy Department finalizes a $2.26 billion loan to the controversial Thacker Pass lithium mine under development in Nevada as part of the Biden administration’s effort to bolster the domestic battery supply chain. (Reuters)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A nonprofit “green bank” launches a $250 million financing program to help small freight companies serving the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports purchase about 500 electric trucks. (Canary Media)
EFFICIENCY: Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania lead the country in passive house adoption, but these highly energy-efficient homes remain out of reach for many in the middle class. (Washington Post)
ALSO:
TRANSPORTATION: New Jersey and New York ports receive $400 million in federal funding to electrify a ferry fleet and cargo handling equipment, provide plug-in power for ships in port, and help truck drivers get zero-emissions vehicles. (NJ Spotlight News)
FOSSIL FUELS: Northampton becomes the 10th Massachusetts municipality — and the only one in the western part of the state — authorized to ban fossil fuels in new construction as part of a pilot program. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)
NUCLEAR: Plans to revive the Three Mile Island plant, once synonymous with disaster, highlight the country’s shifting attitudes toward nuclear power. (New York Times)
POLITICS: The future of fracking in Pennsylvania is central to the two major presidential candidates’ pitches to voters in the important swing state. (TribLIVE)
TRANSMISSION: A Maryland state senator plans to propose legislation to delay the construction of a proposed 70-mile transmission line through the state. (Fox Baltimore)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: More than $80 million in federal and state grants help Maryland expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure, particularly in underserved communities. (Southern Maryland Online)
GAS: A plant converting the methane from landfill emissions into natural gas opens in Pennsylvania, and could produce enough energy to heat 39,000 homes each year, developers say. (Republican Herald)
COMMENTARY:
ELECTRIFICATION: Maine’s whole-home heat pump rebate program picks up speed after it replaced a previous incentive that was not having the hoped-for impact on fossil fuel use. (Maine Public)
TRANSPORTATION:
EMISSIONS: Business groups and utilities object to a potential carbon market program in Maryland, claiming the system would increase energy bills and hurt the state’s economy. (E&E News, subscription)
GAS: Natural gas pipeline operators in Maine seek to raise their prices, likely increasing the cost of gas service and electricity for consumers. (Portland Press Herald)
CLIMATE:
GRID: Long-duration batteries, small modular nuclear reactors, and synthetic natural gas could all help the New England grid maintain reliability as the region transitions to more variable renewable energy sources like solar and wind, according to a report from ISO New England. (RTO Insider, subscription)
RENEWABLE ENERGY: Maryland lawmakers and advocates push to remove trash incineration from the state’s definition of renewable energy, noting how often these facilities are located in low-income neighborhoods. (Inside Climate News)
UTILITIES: Eversource kicks off deployment of smart meters throughout its Massachusetts territory, allowing consumers to better monitor and manage their power consumption, the company says. (news release)
OFFSHORE WIND: U.S. offshore wind executives worry about the future of the industry if Donald Trump wins the presidential election. (Reuters)
COMMENTARY: A proposed natural gas pipeline from New Jersey to Massachusetts is unnecessary as offshore wind and heat pump adoption gain steam in Massachusetts, an environmental advocate argues. (CommonWealth Beacon)
ELECTRIFICATION: California launches an $80 million program aimed at electrifying low and moderate-income households with rebates for heat pumps, appliances and efficiency upgrades. (Sacramento Bee)
CLIMATE:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Washington state allocates $100 million for 575 new electric vehicle charging sites, but an expert says the private sector must build thousands more to meet future demand. (Cascade PBS)
OIL & GAS:
SOLAR:
UTILITIES: The upcoming election for two seats on Montana’s utility regulatory commission comes as the state’s energy industry reckons with the federal push toward clean power and a court decision mandating climate be considered in energy permitting. (Montana Free Press)
NUCLEAR: Wyoming lawmakers advance legislation that would enable firms to establish temporary high-level radioactive waste storage facilities in the state. (WyoFile)
HYDROPOWER: An Oregon city brings an in-conduit hydropower installation online that is integrated into its drinking water system. (Hydro Review)
MINING: Arizona regulators advance a proposed copper mine in the southern part of the state by approving a tailings pipeline through state land. (Arizona Daily Star)
COMMENTARY:
CORRECTION: Alabama Power has not promised to line coal ash pits as part of an EPA settlement, an item in Thursday’s newsletter incorrectly stated that it had.
TRANSITION: West Virginia officials embrace a plan to convert a long-troubled coal plant into a coal-powered facility to produce hydrogen and graphite, but the project has stalled as the company running it juggles multiple projects and a history of loan defaults. (Floodlight/Mountain State Spotlight)
EMISSIONS: “It’s all smoke and mirrors:” Former Texas employees blow the whistle on the state’s pollution monitoring team, which analysis finds has been systematically weakened dating back to the early fracking boom in 2010. (Inside Climate News)
HELENE:
GRID: Federal officials offer up to $360 million to support a $2.6 billion project to link Texas’ standalone grid with a high-voltage transmission line running 320 miles from Mississippi through Louisiana to Texas. (Houston Chronicle)
WORKFORCE: Virginia industry leaders call for the state to support more workforce programs to train workers to fill shortages of electricians, mechanics and technicians, as well as for the emerging electric vehicle industry. (Virginia Mercury)
PIPELINES: Federal regulators tell a court they have good reason to grant the Mountain Valley Pipeline three more years to complete an extension into North Carolina, since they were waiting for the project to receive federal permits for its main line. (Bloomberg, subscription)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: West Virginia residents increasingly consider switching to electric vehicles because of a wave of new all-terrain vehicles and a program that lets them test drive four different models. (WV News)
OIL & GAS: A Congress member says Texas oil companies that withdrew from Russia because of U.S. sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine are now being targeted for breach-of-contract lawsuits. (Houston Chronicle)
COAL:
POLITICS:
COMMENTARY:
GAS: California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill Friday night that would have required public health warning labels on gas-burning ranges and cooktops, saying the measure was “highly prescriptive” and would be difficult to amend in the future as scientific knowledge evolves. (Washington Post)
ALSO: After a federal court struck down Berkeley’s ban on new natural gas hookups, a growing number of California cities are pushing forward with efficiency-based building codes to continue the push toward building electrification. (Inside Climate News)
WIND:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
SOLAR:
UTILITIES: PG&E warned more than 12,000 customers in northern California that preemptive shutoffs are likely this week as high temperatures and gusty winds elevate wildfire risks. (SF Gate)
CLIMATE: As erosion and melting permafrost destroys an Alaska Native village, its residents prepare to complete one of the first large-scale relocations because of climate change. (Associated Press)
OIL & GAS:
POLITICS: Early plans suggest Donald Trump would radically remake the Interior Department, weakening environmental protections and expanding mining and oil and gas development across the West, including on currently protected public lands. (The Guardian/Type Investigations)
COMMENTARY: A wildlife conservationist writes that the Bureau of Land Management’s current Western Solar Plan lacks balance and would put Nevada landscapes at risk. (Nevada Independent)
Environmental advocates are hailing a decision by Massachusetts regulators that will give more than 1.3 million households access to lower winter electricity prices if they use a heat pump in their home.
Public utilities regulators on Monday ordered National Grid, the state’s second-largest electric company, to develop a lower, seasonal rate for houses with heat pumps. The decision comes three months after the state approved a similar rate plan by Unitil, an electric utility that serves 108,500 Massachusetts households.
“They hit the nail on the head here,” said Kyle Murray, Massachusetts program director for climate and energy nonprofit Acadia Center.
Heat pumps are a major element of Massachusetts’ strategy for going carbon neutral by 2050. However, high electricity prices and historically low natural gas prices make switching to a heat pump financially difficult for many people. Unitil’s pricing plan is an attempt to bridge that affordability gap and make heat pumps more accessible, said spokesman Alec O’Meara.
National Grid had proposed a technology-neutral “electrification rate” that would have offered a discounted rate to high-volume electric consumers, whether the power demand was coming from an efficient heat pump, inefficient electric resistance heat, or even a pool heater. Environmental activists, advocates for low-income households, a solar industry group, the state energy department, and the state attorney general all filed comments objecting to this approach and pushing for a heat pump-specific rate like Unitil’s.
“The proposal that National Grid had filed wasn’t going to do anything to ensure that customers who opted into their electrification rate were actually participating in our decarbonization efforts,” said Priya Gandbhir, a senior attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation, one of the groups that pushed for a heat pump specific rate.
In their order, regulators sided with the objectors. They concluded that National Grid’s proposal did not meet the state’s legal mandates to consider the impact of rate design changes on greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficiency, as opposed to Unitil’s approach, which removes a barrier to lower emissions and greater efficiency.
“The heat pump rate will reduce kilowatt hour electricity rates for these customers during winter when heat pumps replace fossil fuel heating equipment, furthering the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Alanna Kelly, spokesperson for the state department of public utilities.
The order also encouraged National Grid to create the rate quickly so it could be in effect before the coming winter heating season.
BATTERIES: The U.S. Energy Department awards a Colorado electric vehicle battery manufacturer $50 million as part of an effort to beef up the nation’s battery supply chain. (CPR)
ALSO: The U.S. Energy Department awards a manganese and zinc mine under development in southern Arizona $166 million to spur production of the battery metals. (Arizona Daily Star)
CLIMATE: A California report finds greenhouse gas emissions have dropped across all sectors in the state except residential and commercial, with transportation seeing the largest year-to-year decline as electric vehicle sales climb. (KTLA, news release)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
SOLAR:
GRID: The Western power grid reached a record-breaking peak load on July 10 even though demand was relatively moderate on California’s system. (RTO Insider, subscription)
WIND: A Hawaii wind facility’s operator says a new system designed to deter bats and prevent collisions with turbines has been successful so far. (Hawaii Public Radio)
OIL & GAS:
URANIUM: The Navajo Nation and a mining company continue working to negotiate a deal that would allow uranium ore shipments across tribal land. (AZ Mirror)
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