Energy News for week ending August 14, 2020

Hot enough for ya? | Unconstitutional | Water Woes

Happy Friday folks.

Well, it isn’t your imagination. It’s been wicked hot. From the Washington Post, “Seven East Coast states saw their hottest July on record. July 2020 was record hot for much of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Sizzling temperatures and sultry humidity baked the Acela corridor for most of the month, with heat indices rising into the triple digits and making conditions all the more unbearable. The entire Lower 48 experienced temperatures near or above normal during July, the toasty temperatures becoming routine as human-induced climate change continues to take is toll. The month ranked as the 11th warmest on record overall, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Seven states — Virginia (tie), Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania (tie), New Jersey, Connecticut (tie) and New Hampshire — all clinched the top spot for their sweltering July heat. Records date back to 1895. The heat was ubiquitous along the East Coast, with states east of the Appalachians recording a top five warmest July except Georgia and South Carolina.”

The battle in Maine over the New England Clean Energy Connect line just took a dramatic turn. From the Portland Press Herald, “Supreme court rules CMP corridor referendum unconstitutional. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court finds that the initiative to reverse a decision by the Public Utilities Commission ‘exceeds the scope of the people’s legislative power.’ The state’s top court has blocked a referendum to stop a planned hydroelectric power corridor through western Maine. In a ruling issued Thursday, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court decided the state’s Constitution does not give voters the power to reverse a decision by the Maine Public Utilities Commission, as the referendum is designed to do, so the question cannot be included on the November ballot as planned. The referendum “exceeds the scope of the people’s legislative powers conferred by … the Maine Constitution,” the ruling says. The decision is a significant blow to environmentalists and others who oppose the $1 billion project being developed by Central Maine Power parent company Avangrid, which is owned by Iberdrola, a multinational electric utility conglomerate based in Spain. The 145-mile transmission line would carry hydroelectric power from Quebec to Lewiston to supply regional power.”

Here’s an interesting efficiency story. From the Washington Examiner, “Trump says EPA looking ‘very strongly’ into ‘situation’ with toilets and bathrooms. President Trump said he had directed the Environmental Protection Agency to consider loosening water efficiency standards for toilets and other bathroom appliances…‘We have a situation where we’re looking very strongly at sinks and showers and other elements of bathrooms,’ Trump said Friday. ‘People are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once,’ Trump said. ‘They end up using more water.’ He complained that strict conservation standards had damaged the performance of bathroom appliances…The EPA regulates water quality and water pollution, and it has a voluntary partnership program called WaterSense through which it labels water-efficient products — but the Department of Energy issues the bulk of energy efficiency and water conservation standards for appliances. The Energy Department has proposed to weaken or has slowed a number of efficiency standards during the Trump administration, including efficiency standards for incandescent light bulbs. That move was met with legal opposition from environmental and efficiency groups.”

That’s the recap for this week. Have a great weekend and as always, stay safe.

Energy Efficiency/Storage

Businesses Charge Up Batteries to Corral Power Costs, Wall St. Journal

Trump says EPA looking ‘very strongly’ into ‘situation’ with toilets and bathrooms, Washington Examiner

Assessing the value of battery energy storage in future power grids, MIT News

Energy efficiency enhances other DERs’ value, but few utilities incentivize combinations of them, Energy Central

Catamount Solar and Northern Reliability to install solar array and battery storage system, Vermont Biz

Maine schools take advantage of empty halls to make efficiency upgrades, Energy Central

Climate Change/Renewables/RGGI

Climate Activists Will Launch Utility Bill Strike In New England Sept. 1, NHPR

Seven East Coast states saw their hottest July on record, Washington Post

Earth is overheating. Millions are already feeling the pain., New York Times