DOE awards $2.2 billion for new transmission lines

GRID: The Department of Energy awards $2.2 billion in grants to eight transmission projects that, matched with $10 billion in private investment, are expected to support 13 GW of new clean energy. (Canary Media)

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ALSO:

• Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm says she supports a bill introduced by Sens. Joe Manchin and John Barasso to streamline energy permitting. (Recharge News, subscription)
• Clean energy developers blame PJM’s slow pace in interconnecting projects for high prices in the grid operator’s recent capacity auction. (Canary Media)
• New York’s grid operator begins using a new interconnection process to help get clean energy projects hooked up to the grid faster. (news release)

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CLEAN ENERGY: A key oversight body says nearly one-third of the carbon offset credits on the market do not meet its standards, a sign of further upheaval in a process that is already heavily criticized. (Bloomberg)

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CLIMATE: The window for lawmakers to repeal the SEC’s climate-risk disclosure rule closed last week, but the policy still faces legal challenges. (Utility Dive)

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OIL & GAS:

• Some of Oklahoma’s biggest oil companies are opting out of a voluntary levy to fund oil and gas well restoration, withholding contributions that could have paid for cleanup of 1,500 wells, an analysis finds. (Capital & Main/ProPublica)
• A Texas lawsuit alleging Chevron and other oil companies failed to properly plug oil wells raises the question of a “colossal liability” that could fall to companies or taxpayers. (Inside Climate News)

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TRANSPORTATION:

• A Michigan Congress member leads efforts to repeal the Biden administration’s fuel economy standards that require automakers to improve cars’ fuel efficiency over the coming years. (Detroit News)
• A lack of national standards for training electric vehicle and charging station technicians perpetuates an industry worker shortage and could limit EV adoption, experts say. (Detroit News, subscription)

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HYDROGEN: Oregon advocates push back against a utility’s pilot project blending hydrogen into its natural gas distribution system in Portland, joining other critics around the region citing safety concerns, high costs and limited effectiveness at decarbonization. (Oregon Capital Chronicle, Floodlight)

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NUCLEAR: Federal regulators are seeking more information about plans to sell power from a Pennsylvania nuclear plant to an Amazon data center to be located nearby. (Utility Dive)

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HYDROPOWER: Hydropower associations are suing the Biden administration over new rules to protect vulnerable fish populations. (E&E News, subscription)

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COMMENTARY: Advocates urge federal lawmakers to protect the Biden administration’s oil and gas leasing rules from legislative attacks, saying they help protect the West’s outdoor recreation economy from drilling’s impacts. (Colorado Sun)

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