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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Today, the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) approved a siting certificate for the Ohio State University’s proposed gas plant.
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.
Advocates from across Iowa, including Sierra Club, NAACP, Des Moines Black Liberation Movement, and other environmental groups, are calling on the Iowa Utility Board to ban utility shut-offs until November 1, 2020.
SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 -- NEW YORK, NY -- Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Sierra Club today announced that the U.S. Beyond Coal campaign has successfully retired 60% of domestic coal-fired power plants – 318 out of 530 plants, to date. This milestone doubles the original goal, set in 2011, which pledged to retire 30 percent of the nation’s coal fleet by 2020 and accelerate the United States’ transition to a clean energy economy.
Richmond, VA -- Today, in hearings before the State Corporation Committee (SCC),
the Sierra Club testified against Appalachian Power’s attempt to almost double the basic service charge and force consumers to needlessly subsidize continued operations for archaic coal plants. The proposed increase includes a ‘coal amortization rider’ which would make consumers needlessly stockpile their money for the company in order to further reliance on fossil fuels.
Despite bipartisan demands for Donald Trump and Senate Republicans to pass a relief package providing immediate relief for families suffering -- including the hundreds of thousands of Americans out of work according to a new analysis released today by BW Research Partnership -- action remains stalled.