Energy

For a glimpse of what New York’s just-announced clean energy standard could mean to the state’s economy, look West. New York’s plan to get 50 percent of its energy from renewables by 2030, matches the renewable standard set by California in 2015. It will make New York a major leader for clean energy (only tiny Vermont and Hawaii have higher standards than New York and California), setting an example for other states. Clean energy, quite simply, is a tremendous economic catalyst. Smart clean energy policies, we know from California and other states, create jobs and drive economic growth. [node:read-more:link]

Eastern Kentucky faces population loss and other challenges that complicate efforts to diversify its coal-dependent economy as the industry continues to bleed jobs. Coal jobs in the region dropped by 6.1 percent from April through June, according to a report from the state Energy and Environment Cabinet. That was far less than the 21.6 percent decline in the first three months of 2016. Still, that was little cause for celebration in a place where the steep drop in coal jobs and production have hurt other businesses and revenue for local governments.

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A federal court should take into account a case involving U.S. EPA's retroactive veto of a water permit for a mining project as it considers the legality of the Clean Power Plan, an opponent to the rule argued. The Competitive Enterprise Institute told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that the dissent in the water permit case "strongly supports" its arguments that EPA failed to adequately consider the costs and benefits of its power plant rule. In the mining case, Arch Coal Inc. [node:read-more:link]

With the least stringent regulations of any state with shale production, critics are calling on Virginia to clear up confusion over local fracking bans and complete two reviews of its oil and gas regulations, one of which has been pending since 2004.  An in-state regulatory review, underway since 2013, is approaching its final stage but has no deadline. It’s being conducted by a Gas & Oil Regulatory Advisory Panel revved up after Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe took office in early 2014. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. biodiesel production industry has a distinct "feast or famine" pattern in terms of profitability. The industry made very large profits in 2011 and 2013, but losses in most years previous to 2011 and losses again in 2014 and 2015. The feast or famine pattern has been closely tied to expiration of the $1 per gallon biodiesel tax credit in the face of binding RFS biodiesel mandates. The biodiesel tax credit is once again scheduled to expire at the end of 2016. [node:read-more:link]

El Paso Electric has become coal-free and no longer is using the fossil fuel to power its generators, making it the only electric utility in Texas and New Mexico to have no coal-fired power generation. [node:read-more:link]

Despite announcing the closure of four units at an Ohio coal plant it initially sought to protect, the amount of money FirstEnergy could recover from customers in new charges has now ballooned to more than $8 billion.   FirstEnergy still wants a non-bypassable charge that critics have said could cost consumers almost $4 billion. In the same filing, it says that a new rider suggested by staff at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio would be a good idea, but that the proposed rate of $131 million per year for three years would be inadequate. [node:read-more:link]

Iowa’s overall energy situation is moving in a positive direction, although the state still consumes more than it produces at a per-capital rate higher than its six bordering states.  Iowa consumes more raw energy than it produces and imports more raw energy than it produces. Electrical power generation has increased significantly, by nearly 40 percent, primarily because of expansion in wind production. [node:read-more:link]

A state Supreme Court judge  struck down New York's attempt to clamp down on independent energy service companies with strict new rules, calling the effort "arbitrary'' and "irrational.''  State Supreme Court Justice Henry Zwack, of Albany, vacated new regulations that were announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in February following approval by the state Public Service Commission.  The PSC's decision to restrict the activities of energy marketers, also known as ESCOs, "appears to be irrational, arbitrary and capricious,'' Zwack wrote. [node:read-more:link]

Gov. Paul LePage is proposing a three-year “grandfather” period to allow Maine residents who have installed solar panels to recover some of their upfront investment through a practice called net metering. After that, he wants to end the program. The governor’s new proposal is drawing swift criticism from the solar industry. Under net metering, residential solar generators can get a credit on their electric bill for excess electricity that they put back into the power grid. Over time, those credits can help cover the cost of the original investment, for, say, solar panels. [node:read-more:link]