Washington, D.C. – Gains in clean energy and emissions reductions are being stunted by the increasing demand for electricity from data centers, electrifying vehicles and industries, and reshoring manufacturing. Utilities are extending the life of obsolete and dirty coal plants and proposing new gas-burning plants, putting climate targets at risk.
Christine, Tex. – Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that the San Miguel Electric Cooperative in South Texas has been selected as a funding finalist for its proposal to build a large solar energy and battery storage project that will improve affordability and reliability and improve air and water quality for nearby rural communities.
FLORIDA – President Joe Biden announced today that Seminole Electric Cooperative’s application to construct and procure a combination of utility-scale solar and battery energy storage across rural portions of Florida was chosen as a finalist in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program. The New ERA program, authorized through the Inflation Reduction Act, is a competitive program to provide $9.7 billion in grants and loans to rural electric cooperatives. Today’s announcement identified 16 cooperatives, including Seminole, that collectively are expected to receive $7.3 billion. USDA expects this tranche of funding to drive $29 billion in large-scale clean energy investments across the country.
Wyoming – Today marks the conclusion of EPA’s public comment period on its proposal to partially disapprove Wyoming’s regional haze state implementation plan (SIP), meant to show progress towards reducing haze pollution that blurs iconic views in national parks and wilderness areas from Yellowstone National Park to Bridger Wilderness Area.
Phoenix, AZ – Today Sierra Club filed an appeal in Maricopa County Superior Court challenging the Arizona Corporation Commission’s unlawful June decision to eliminate environmental reviews for most new methane gas-fired power plants.
Belleville, IL – A federal judge agrees with the Sierra Club that the Prairie State coal-burning power plant lacks enforceable air permits for its operation, which are a requirement under the Clean Air Act.
During a board meeting on Aug. 23, the utility announced its second rate increase this year, adding another 5.25% in increased electricity costs to consumer bills, in part to subsidize unproven small modular nuclear reactor technology that the utility is banking on rather than increasing investment in renewable energy and necessary transmission infrastructure.
Kansas City, Kansas– Ten scenarios for a 20 year Integrated Resources Plan (IRP) were presented to the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities (BPU) last night. The IRP should have provided affordable, reliable, least-risk scenarios to help BPU meet energy needs in the years to come.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the D.C. District Court denied an attempt by Signal Peak Energy to force the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) to rush an environmental review of a proposed 175-million-ton expansion at the Bull Mountains coal mine in Montana — which aims to be the nation’s largest remaining underground coal mine.
Wyoming – In its proposed partial disapproval of Wyoming’s State Implementation Plan earlier this month, the EPA has confirmed a retirement date for PacifiCorp’s Dave Johnston coal Unit 3, one of four units at the plant. In its recent proposed rule, EPA declared that the retirement of the unit has a federally-enforceable commitment to shut down by 2027. The utility has also maintained the same retirement date in its latest Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) meant to forecast how it will source energy for the next two decades.
This week, the Sierra Club, alongside West Virginia residents and ratepayers Bruce Perrone and Rosanna Long, filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of West Virginia against the Commissioners of the Public Service Commission of West Virginia (PSC) for their 2021 directive that coal plants operate at 69% capacity – far beyond the average of coal plants in the region.
Springfield, IL – New federal data shows that wind and solar energy – due to coal plant retirements and the growth of renewable energy – generated more power this year so far than coal.