Local input key to state energy policies, experts say

CLEAN ENERGY: State policies could supercharge utility-scale clean energy deployment, but experts say too-rapid an expansion could strengthen opposition, and that local participation in the siting process is still key. (Utility Dive)

GRID:

• Cleantech experts say home power management systems are set to become essential as homeowners switch to electric appliances and vehicles, as well as add at-home power generation. (Bloomberg)
• A U.S. Energy Department advisory board proposes establishing a data center to study how AI affects power demand. (Axios)

WIND:

• Anti-wind protesters claim without evidence that the broken Vineyard turbine blade added to “the plight of the right whale,” an endangered species most at risk from vessel strikes and climate change. (Nantucket Current, Energy News Network archive)
• A Maine agency will study the viability of small-scale wind turbines, which could help supplement low production from solar panels in winter. (Portland Press Herald)
• Oregon researchers aim to reduce wind facility-related bird fatalities by painting turbine blades black. (OPB)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Kentucky has attracted more than $11.5 billion in electric vehicle-related investments since 2020, but lagging vehicle sales and a partisan split over the industry create uncertainty about its future. (Louisville Courier-Journal)

COAL:

• The operators of the Colstrip coal plant in Montana urge the U.S. Supreme Court to block implementation of new U.S. EPA emissions standards, saying the cost of complying with the rule would force the facility’s closure. (Montana Free Press)
• New Mexico advocates hail the demolition of the shuttered San Juan coal plant’s smokestacks as a symbol of the energy transition while the facility’s former workers mourn lost jobs. (NM Political Report, Tri-City Record)

PIPELINES: Tribal leaders in northern Wisconsin continue their fight to shut down the Line 5 pipeline in the “Everglades of the North,” where they fear a spill would decimate areas for wild rice and fishing. (Inside Climate News)

SOLAR: A Swiss firm cancels plans to establish a solar cell manufacturing plant in Colorado, saying market distortions have rendered the project financially unviable. (Reuters)

EMISSIONS: North Carolina’s ratepayer advocate, Walmart, and other critics of Duke Energy’s initial decarbonization plan relent and endorse a settlement that includes construction of 9 GW of new natural gas plants and more solar. (Energy News Network)

COMMENTARY: A Harris campaign adviser calls for a “Clean Energy Marshall Plan” that would finance foreign investments in renewables and the creation of international clean energy supply chains and trade agreements. (Foreign Affairs)

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