USPS workers are loving new electric trucks

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The first electric U.S. Post Office trucks are on the road in Georgia and already winning praise from drivers who prefer them to the previous hot, noisy and inefficient combustion vehicles. (Associated Press)

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ALSO:

• Pollsters warn a lack of clear messaging on electric vehicles’ economic potential could cost Democrats votes in Michigan. (The Guardian)
• Some Southern California Edison customers with Ford electric vehicles can start earning rewards for charging during off-peak hours, launching a program that ultimately aims to use bidirectional charging as a grid resource. (Utility Dive)

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UTILITIES:

• A $7.3 billion federal program to help rural electric cooperatives invest in clean energy provides a key tool for nonprofit entities that don’t have access to the same financing options as investor-owned utilities. (Canary Media)
• FirstEnergy agrees to pay a $100 million fine to settle civil fraud charges related to the company’s role in Ohio’s HB6 bribery scandal, while former CEO Chuck Jones faces new federal fraud charges that include misleading investors. (Statehouse News Bureau)
• Documents show an Oregon utility continues to sell increasing volumes of natural gas even though it promised to phase out fossil fuels and encourage home electrification years ago. (OPB)

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CLEAN ENERGY: Texas’ plans to build solar, wind and battery projects over the next year and a half dwarf those of any other state, including second-place California. (Canary Media)

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HYDROGEN: Utilities in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas are converting existing power plants and building new ones to blend hydrogen with natural gas in an attempt to decarbonize their emissions. (Power Engineering)

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CLIMATE:

• Environmental groups say a proposed $15 billion merger between two major players in the global steel industry would slow progress on decarbonizing the sector. (Grist)
• Experts warn Houston’s experience with Hurricane Beryl this summer — widespread power outages followed by a dangerous heat wave — is an “absolute certainty” to affect other parts of the U.S. that are unprepared for such a scenario. (Washington Post)

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SOLAR: High interest rates, labor shortages, and foreign competition are jeopardizing the buildout of a domestic solar supply chain, industry leaders say. (Utility Dive)

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ELECTRIFICATION: Colorado officials look to regulations, rebates and marketing to prod restaurants to convert from natural gas to electric stoves. (CPR)

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GEOTHERMAL: Well tests determine an enhanced geothermal generating station in southwestern Utah is the most productive of its kind in history. (Utility Dive)

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COMMENTARY: A professor says the bipartisan permitting bill in Congress is a “Faustian bargain” that expedites fossil fuel development but does little to help clean energy. (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)

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