Tesla Supercharger layoffs throw industry for a loop

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Tesla reportedly lays off its entire 500-person supercharger team throwing into uncertainty an EV charging industry that had started to rely on Tesla’s technology. (The Information, subscription; E&E News)

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ALSO: The developers of an electric truck charging corridor across the Southwest struggle to site remote chargers where they can connect to the grid. (E&E News)

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GRID:

• The U.S. EPA’s new power plant emissions rules include reliability provisions that the Edison Electric Institute, a utility trade group that criticized the regulations, had pushed. (E&E News)
• Massachusetts utility officials consider several proposals to spread out the cost of substation upgrades, but no solar projects larger than 15 kW can move forward in one part of the state until they decide. (Energy News Network)
• Arizona utilities urge federal regulators to approve the Southwest Power Pool’s proposed Western day-ahead power market and transmission coordination model, but advocates call for refinements. (Utility Dive)

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PIPELINES: Mountain Valley Pipeline officials say the cost of the nearly completed project has grown to $7.85 billion, more than $220 million higher than its previous estimate in February. (Roanoke Times, Cardinal News)

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OFFSHORE WIND:

• Federal officials propose eight separate leases in the Gulf of Maine for offshore wind auctions that could result in 15 GW of new capacity. (ReNew Biz, New Hampshire Bulletin)
• The Biden administration proposes auctioning offshore wind leases on 195,000 acres along Oregon’s southern coast, drawing pushback from tribal nations and some residents. (OPB)

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CLIMATE: Students at three universities file legal complaints alleging their schools’ fossil fuel investments are illegal and violate their commitments to climate action and research. (Guardian)

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CLEAN ENERGY: Three Energy Department-funded research projects investigate whether seaweed can be mined for minerals critical to clean energy projects. (Hakai)

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OIL & GAS: The U.S. House overwhelmingly passes a bill that would direct the Energy Department to research abandoned oil and gas wells’ environmental risks. (The Hill)

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EFFICIENCY: The U.S. Energy Department institutes stricter energy efficiency standards for residential water heaters. (New York Times)

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STORAGE: A 2,000 MW battery storage system under construction in southern California is expected to be one of the world’s largest such facilities when completed next year. (Whittier Daily News)

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CARBON CAPTURE: A carbon dioxide removal startup has injected more than 2,000 metric tons of a carbon-rich biomass slurry for sequestration in subterranean salt caverns below Kansas as it scales up its operations. (Canary Media)

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