North Carolina bill hides reduced utility oversight behind lots of new renewables
House Bill 951 would lead to a huge procurement of renewables, but is soured by the additions of gigawatt-scale natural gas capacity, reduced regulator authority, and potential multi-year rate hikes.
Sunrise brief: Battery-electric locomotive enters service
Also on the rise: NPPD shops for 2 million MWh of renewables, JV will fuel ReneSola expansion, Canadian Solar sells a project stake, and natural gas rebounds after a lousy 2020.
Morning Brief: Solar roadway in Georgia, Oakland bans natural gas in new buildings, DC gets solar to the people
Also in the brief: Ohio bill would ban new large solar and wind projects for up to three years
How does the US retire 236 GW of coal and 1,000 gas peaker plants?
Victory in the economic realm (increasingly the case with solar, solar-plus-storage and wind) is no guarantee of market victory if the regulations are stacked against renewables.
Morning Brief: Role of gas as a bridge fuel in US ‘just got shorter and narrower’
Also in the brief: Trina Solar completed its acquisition of Spanish solar tracker company Nclave, Plus — A Florida county board denies a zoning exemption for a 650-acre solar project in a predominantly Black community after some residents said the proposal constituted environmental racism.
How does the US retire 236 GW of coal and 1,000 gas peaker plants?
Victory in the economic realm (increasingly the case with solar, solar-plus-storage and wind) is no guarantee of market victory if the regulations are stacked against renewables.
Morning Brief: PV plant providing grid ancillary services in Chile, Capital Dynamics to develop nine batteries
Also in the brief: Global Energy Generation’ proposed 4,500-acre Mammoth Solar project in Pulaski County, Indiana, may have a role to play in Winamac’s revitalization efforts, Dominion Energy acquired a solar power project in Orange County, the laws that prevent carbon cutting and more.
More utilities bypassing natural gas bridge and going straight to renewables
Utilities that are transitioning away from coal are starting to view the creation of a natural gas “bridge” to renewable energy as an unnecessary step.
Even FERC can’t deny the energy transition
The latest projections from the federal agency show no growth in fossil fuel capacity over the next three years, while new solar and wind more than make up for nuclear retirements. This is likely an overly conservative assessment.
From the editor: EIA versus the future
EIA’s long-term projections remain stubbornly immune to reality. And the biggest problem is the potential collapse of civilization if we extract and burn anywhere near as much coal, gas and oil as the agency forecasts.
