September 29, 2020
Austin, Tex. - Texas based Vistra Energy announced plans today to accelerate its transition to clean energy generation by retiring all the coal plants owned by its subsidiaries in Illinois and Ohio.
coal
September 29, 2020
Texas based Vistra Energy announced plans today to accelerate its transition to clean energy generation by retiring all the coal plants owned by its subsidiaries in Illinois and Ohio. In a move intended to reduce the utility’s outsized climate impact, the announcement targets more than 6,211 megawatts (MW) of coal based electricity generation at six coal plants, which is equivalent to a year’s worth of carbon emissions from 10,380,659 passenger vehicles. These announced retirements mark 166,395 MW of coal capacity proposed and retired with 185,022 MW remaining in the United States.
September 29, 2020
Salt Lake City, UT - Today, 20 Utah businesses came out against the local utility, Rocky Mountain Power, proposal which would prevent families and businesses from affording rooftop solar on their homes and buildings (full list of businesses at the bottom of press release). The proposal would reduce the export solar credit rate by 84 percent -- which would make Utah’s solar export credit the lowest in the entire country, despite the fact that Utah has some of the best solar resources -- a move that would effectively kill the solar industry in Utah.
September 28, 2020
Today, Sierra Club released a report card grading MidAmerican Energy’s performance in seven key areas ranging from coal usage, to lack of an emissions reduction goal, to equitable access to clean energy, as well as an overall grade for the utility. The report card follows the release of a more technical economic analysis of MidAmerican’s energy generation released in a report last month, The Coal Truth. The economic report found that MidAmerican’s most uneconomic plants in Iowa, have lost $27.5 million for customers over the last five years and both plants could retire without needing to replace their generated power until 2023. Those retirements would save utility customers $92 million.
September 28, 2020
St. Louis, MO -- Ameren Missouri, the state’s largest monopoly electric utility, released its Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) today that details how it will meet energy demand for the next twenty years and beyond. The IRP is mandated by the Public Service Commission (PSC), which regulates monopoly utilities like Ameren. Part of the announcement includes a significant addition of 3,100MW of renewable energy by 2030 and another 2,300MW following 2030. Ameren also makes a commitment for reaching net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
September 28, 2020
DENVER (Sept. 28, 2020) — A new report released today shows how Colorado can reach its ambitious climate goals in a way that cuts dangerous pollution, particularly in communities disproportionately impacted by air pollution. The findings highlight the need for swiftly powering the electric sector with renewable resources, reducing oil and gas production and associated emissions, and electrifying vehicles, buildings, and public transit. The report was released by Evolved Energy, GridLab, NRDC, and Sierra Club with support from PSE Healthy Energy.
September 23, 2020
Little Rock, AR -- Last week, the Sierra Club filed a request to vacate the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality’s (ADEQ) wastewater discharge permit for the Flint Creek coal-burning plant, owned and operated by Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO). The filing alleges that the state failed to consider relevant factors meant to protect people and the environment from toxic water pollution as required by the Clean Water Act.
September 23, 2020
Portsmouth, VA - Last night, the Portsmouth City Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution that strongly supports offshore wind development off Virginia’s coast. The city now joins Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Newport News and Hampton, all expressing support for establishing Hampton Roads as a hub for the frontier clean energy industry.
September 22, 2020
Austin, TX - Yesterday, the Sierra Club filed a new report with legal comments advocating that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognize that Southwestern Electric Power Company’s (SWEPCO) Pirkey Coal Plant near Longview is worsening the region’s existing Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) and should expand the current Martin Lake SO2 nonattainment area to include Pirkey, a significant contributor of pollution to the Longview area.
September 21, 2020
Charleston, WV -- Today, a newly formed West Virginia Climate Alliance, a group of local environmental and social justice organizations with the intent of promoting public education and beginning a dialogue with the citizens of West Virginia on the impending climate crisis. Today they released a new 16-page report titled A Citizen’s Guide to Climate Change.
September 17, 2020
Today, the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) approved a siting certificate for the Ohio State University’s proposed gas plant.
September 17, 2020
The Wisconsin Public Service Commission voted today to once again extend the utility disconnection moratorium for residential customers until November 1, 2020. The commission decided 2 - 1 to extend the moratorium in order to safeguard the public health of Wisconsin residents during the COVID-19 health crisis. The PSC had voted in March, July, and August to extend the moratorium due to the risk to people’s lives from the high level of COVID cases in the state.