Clean energy jobs are surging

CLEAN ENERGY: The Department of Energy says clean energy jobs last year grew at twice the rate of other sectors, with unionization rates higher than in the broader energy industry. (Reuters)

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CLIMATE:

• A pending youth climate lawsuit in Maine represents the latest iteration of legal strategies aimed at holding states accountable for emissions-cutting targets, focusing on failure to advance specific policies rather than addressing emissions broadly. (Energy News Network)
• Gen Z voters in Ohio and other states say climate change ranks among their top priorities in this year’s presidential and down-ballot elections. (Ohio Capital Journal)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The Biden administration announces $521 million in grants for electric vehicle charging, and says the number of publicly available chargers has doubled since 2021. (Utility Dive)

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GRID:

• A flood of new solar and battery capacity have kept Texas’ independent state power grid afloat as it sets a new record for peak demand, experts say, though state lawmakers also credit a new conservation alert system. (Canary Media, KIII)
• Renewable energy groups issue a report calling for interconnection reforms ahead of a two-day FERC workshop next month. (Utility Dive)
• Georgia Power plans to install 500 MW of battery energy storage at four locations around the state to help meet a projected spike in power demand. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

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OIL & GAS:

• A coalition of 23 state attorneys general petitions the Supreme Court to block EPA rules requiring oil and gas wells to control leaks of methane, a significant contributor to global warming. (The Hill)
• The U.S. Interior Department finalizes prohibitions on new mining, drilling and other development on 28 million acres of federal land in Alaska, reversing a Trump-era policy. (Alaska Beacon)
• As oil exports reach record levels, four U.S. senators and 18 Congress members call for a pause on the permitting of liquified natural gas export projects and want to revisit regulators’ decision to approve a terminal 30 miles off the Texas coast. (Houston Chronicle)

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UTILITIES: Illinois ratepayers have paid an extra $1.8 billion since 2015 by choosing alternative energy suppliers over traditional utilities like ComEd and Ameren, according to a consumer advocate’s analysis. (Daily Herald)

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SOLAR: Opponents of a proposed 800 MW Ohio solar project may turn to the state Supreme Court to block the project after regulators denied repeated challenges. (WCMH)

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COMMENTARY:

• A business writer says automakers’ whiplash on electric vehicles repeats a familiar pattern when legacy companies overreact to startups willing to endure heavy initial losses. (Washington Post)
• In New Jersey, the Garden State Institute’s president describes the financial and planning lessons that the state’s offshore wind projects can learn from the recent Nantucket turbine failure. (Daily Record)

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