How the IRA helps put solar on apartment buildings

SOLAR: A set of projects across Washington, D.C., and California mark the first time a company sold its Inflation Reduction Act solar tax credits to another company, a key tool to help encourage solar in new construction. (Canary Media)

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ALSO:

• Texas surpassed California as the nation’s leader in solar installations last year, but a professor explains that has less to do with the state’s commitment to fighting climate change and is more about making infrastructure projects easy to permit and build. (The Atlantic)
• The U.S. Energy Department plans a 1,000 MW solar installation on about 8,000 acres of the Hanford nuclear weapons production site in south-central Washington. (Canary Media)

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OIL & GAS: Analysts predict Biden administration rules that curbed new and existing drilling could be taken even further under Vice President Kamala Harris. (E&E News)

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CLEAN ENERGY: Solar and HVAC companies, advocacy groups, and other entities with a stake in the clean energy transition sign on to an initiative meant to spread the word about available Inflation Reduction Act incentives. (Axios)

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GRID:

• DTE Energy’s CEO says on an investor call that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer supports a bill to provide tax incentives for data centers, which critics say could prolong fossil fuels to meet grid demand. (Planet Detroit)
• A new tool developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory helps utilities determine cybersecurity risks that could come with energy system upgrades. (Utility Dive)

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TRANSPORTATION:

• Maine says a proposed bypass outside Portland will reduce emissions by alleviating gridlock, but advocates say this claim has been frequently disproven by the outcomes of similar projects elsewhere. (Energy News Network)
• Congestion pricing rules like New York City’s paused regulation often face opposition when they’re first introduced, but gain popularity as they reduce traffic and drive transit expansion. (Grist)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• A southern California city becomes the nation’s first to replace its entire fleet of gasoline-powered police patrol cars with electric vehicles. (Associated Press)
• An electric school bus manufacturing plant in Illinois is operating significantly below capacity as company executives wait on U.S. and Canadian subsidy programs. (Chicago Tribune, subscription)
• The CEO of electric vehicle company Lucid says it has no plans to build an electric pickup truck, saying the “only viable solution for an affordable, usable pickup truck today is internal combustion.” (Axios)

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POLITICS: Federal prosecutors argue that a corruption trial involving former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and alleged gifts from ComEd over several years should proceed despite a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. (Chicago Sun-Times)

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