Energy News for week ending December 4, 2020

Taking a pause | Ugly, but needed | Postpone Efficiency

Happy Friday folks.

We start this week’s recap with Vineyard Wind news from the State House News Service via Saving Seafood. “On the heels of another federal permitting delay, Vineyard Wind announced Tuesday that it is temporarily withdrawing its construction and operations plan from further review by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management but the company says its pause won’t delay the planned start of clean power generation. The announcement came in conjunction with news that the 800-megawatt offshore wind project plans to use GE Renewable Energy’s Haliade-X wind turbine generators when it begins construction, which it called ‘industry leading’ and ‘the most powerful in operation to date.’ Project developers told BOEM on Tuesday that they plan to launch their own ‘final technical review associated with the inclusion of the Haliade-X into the final project design’ and have asked for a pause in the federal review, which had been expected to be completed this month before recently being pushed to January.”

Next up is a story from Bloomberg Business Week which, considering the topic was mentioned by Present-Elect Biden, I think we’re going to be hearing a lot more about this in the coming years, “High-Voltage Power Lines Are Ugly, and the U.S. Needs More. Places where the sun shines bright and the wind blows hard aren’t always places where a lot of people live. High-voltage transmission lines are needed to bring electricity from renewable energy installations to the towns and cities where it’s consumed. The U.S. is way behind other countries in building these lines… Investors and utilities in the U.S. do want to build high-voltage transmission lines. There are dozens of projects at various stages of consideration, with colorful names such as Power From the Prairie, the Grain Belt Express Clean Line, and Zephyr Power Transmission. The problem is getting approval. Ownership of the U.S. power grid is balkanized, Nimby-ism is common, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has been reluctant to override local authorities to get lines sited.”

This next story from NH is a bit of head scratcher since this is a great way to save money and help the environment. From the Concord Monitor, “Citing economic fears, House Republicans call on PUC to postpone 2021 energy efficiency plan. Citing pandemic-driven economic concerns, top Republican state lawmakers are asking the Public Utilities Commission to put off the adoption of more aggressive energy efficiency goals, currently set to take effect at the start of next year. The letter, sent Monday from incoming House Majority Leader Dick Hinch and incumbent Republicans on the House Science, Technology and Energy Committee, calls on the PUC to ‘indefinitely postpone implementation’ of the next three-year statewide energy efficiency plan… The proposal is more aggressive than past versions, aiming to reduce electricity sales by 5% and gas sales by 3% at a three-year cost of about $367 million. The utilities say these cuts will create jobs and enable all kinds of customers to buy less energy, ultimately saving them $1.3 billion or more than three times what the plan costs. They say it will create jobs and business opportunities in weatherization and efficiency upgrades, free up business and municipal revenues to cover other services and improvements, and save residents money to reinvest in their local economies. The utilities also expect the plan to improve public health and fight climate change by preventing the equivalent carbon emissions of more than half a million average homes’ annual energy use, according to an Environmental Protection Agency calculator. The House Republicans, in their letter, argue these long-term savings goals are not worth the short-term costs the plan will carry for manufacturers, small businesses such as restaurants and municipalities hard-hit by the economic downturn of COVID-19.”

That’s the recap for this week. Stay safe and have a wonderful weekend.

Climate Change

‘Climate change continued its relentless march’: 2020 on track to be 2nd warmest year in recorded history, MassLive

Mills unveils 4-year climate action plan, makes plea for urgent action, Press Herald

Cuomo Strengthens RGGI to Cap, Reduce New York GHG Emissions, North American Wind Power

New York to include small combustion turbines in annual carbon emission limits, Utility Dive

Special Report: U.S. air monitors routinely miss pollution – even refinery explosions, Reuters.com

NYC Climate Progress on Ambitious Emissions Goals Backslides As Strategic Plan Sprawls, The City

Grant aims to help coastal communities cope with rising sea levels, more, Press Herald

Renewables/RGGI/TCI

The New Energy Giants are Renewable Companies, Bloomberg Green

Top officials see shift coming on energy front, WWLP