Report: Grid decarbonization impossible without reform

GRID: A new academic paper warns the U.S. won’t be able to decarbonize the grid by 2050 if federal regulators don’t adopt significant grid reforms and implement a national transmission strategy. (Utility Dive)

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ALSO:

• PJM Interconnection’s market monitor says federal energy regulators should make the grid operator stop making and recoup past capacity payments to ineligible energy efficiency resources. (Utility Dive)
• Solar installers and clean energy advocates push back on a proposed California rule requiring battery storage systems be installed only by those with a particular license, which would exclude many solar contractors. (Canary Media)

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POLITICS: Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, acknowledged climate change and the need for a clean energy transition as recently as 2020, but has since become publicly skeptical of renewables and turned to boosting fossil fuels. (New York Times, E&E News)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Electric vehicle sales grew 11% in the second quarter compared to a year earlier, exceeding expectations and suggesting predictions of an industry decline were premature. (Forbes)

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OIL & GAS: The U.S. oil industry is booming, benefitting from cost-cutting and automation to produce record levels of crude from west Texas shale, generate more cash for shareholders, and disconcert clean energy advocates. (New York Times)

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HYDROGEN:

• A study out of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory finds that offshore wind farms with fixed-bottom turbines off the Northeast coast could provide cost-competitive hydrogen. (Recharge)
• A California transit agency launches the world’s first commercial all-hydrogen fuel cell ferry in the San Francisco Bay. (Canary Media)

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CLEAN ENERGY: Michigan has added nearly 21,500 clean energy jobs over the past two years, serving as a national leader in clean energy development after adopting several supportive policies, according to a new report. (Michigan Advance)

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SOLAR: The U.S. solar industry’s leading trade group issues standards for companies to follow to ensure ethical sales practices as state attorneys general claim companies use deceptive sales tactics to draw business. (E&E News, subscription)

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CLIMATE: Unlike heating mandates, very few regulations exist that require landlords to provide air conditioning to renters, an increasingly dangerous public health problem as heat waves become more frequent and longer. (Vox)

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COMMENTARY: A journalist and an advocate argue that only phasing out fossil fuels will slash Permian Basin methane emissions, and that new pollution-detecting satellites and inadequate regulations will fall short. (Scientific American)

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