Low-income solar’s biggest investment yet

SOLAR: A clean energy group’s analysis finds a $7 billion federal program is on track to help more than 700,000 lower-income households install solar and storage systems, making it the largest such investment in U.S. history. (Canary Media)

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ALSO: A Cornell University researcher studies what types of crops can best co-exist with solar panels on New York farms. (Spectrum News)

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HYDROGEN: The U.S. Energy Department reportedly wants the Treasury to relax its guidance for clean hydrogen incentives, saying the strict rules threaten the industry’s expansion. (E&E News)

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CLIMATE:

• New York Attorney General Letitia James sues one of the world’s largest beef producers, alleging the company doesn’t actually have a plan to meet its public pledge to reach net zero emissions by 2040. (Associated Press)
• ExxonMobil sues investor groups it says are trying to abuse its shareholder system by repeatedly filing proposals to force it to slash its climate emissions. (NPR)
• The bipartisan infrastructure law’s focus on rebuilding and expanding roads over public transit and pedestrian options will only worsen climate change, critics say. (Guardian)

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CLEAN ENERGY: A new report estimates a worker shortage of 1.1 million people across 20 occupations that are crucial for rolling out the Biden administration’s clean energy agenda. (E&E News, subscription)

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STORAGE: At least 30 startups look to store renewable power by heating up rocks and other materials, hoping thermal storage can solve solar and wind’s intermittency challenges. (Canary Media)

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GRID:

• Federal regulators could vote in the coming weeks on new major transmission rules that have been in the works for two years and could help facilitate the clean energy transition. (E&E News, subscription)
• The CEO of Texas’ grid operator questions the economics of a congressional bill requiring the standalone grid to interconnect with other U.S. power grids. (Houston Chronicle)
• A new coalition of environmental and labor groups is pushing for legislation in Minnesota that would make it easier to co-locate transmission lines along highways. (Energy News Network)

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OIL & GAS:

• Petrochemical production could provide a lifeline for oil companies facing a decline in the face of renewable energy’s rise. (E&E News)
• Environmental advocates push the Biden administration to institute cleanup requirements for offshore drillers. (The Hill)
• Last year’s explosion of an abandoned oil and gas well on a Texas ranch stands as an example of state regulators’ uneven approach toward cleaning up thousands of similar abandoned wells across the state. (Inside Climate News/Texas Tribune)
• California advocates say the petroleum industry’s reaction to cities banning new gasoline stations is a badge of honor that validates their activism. (Grist)

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GEOTHERMAL: Oil and gas companies are ramping up investments in geothermal power, betting that drilling for underground heat could be their key into the clean energy industry. (Wall Street Journal, subscription)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Ford electric vehicle owners can now use Tesla public chargers, but they first must get a free adapter from Ford. (ABC News)

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NUCLEAR: The U.S. House advances a bill to speed environmental reviews for new nuclear reactors, which it will have to reconcile with the Senate’s nuclear legislation. (The Hill)

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