Happy day-before-Thanksgiving! Our holiday travel takes us to Connecticut, where a unique model is making solar development happen, Jeff St. John reports. There, the state-run Green Bank has become a developer and even owner of solar projects on public buildings like schools and low-income housing.
Over the river and through the woods to Virginia, where Elizabeth Ouzts has the story of two midsize battery storage units that promise to reduce the need for gas-fired peaker plants — and could fill a similar role across the country.
We’ll be off tomorrow, but will be back with a spotlight on the latest Canary Media stories on Friday.
A quick personal note: Thank you for starting your day with me and this newsletter. I hope you’ll consider donating to our year-end fundraising drive to keep our nonprofit mission rolling.
The U.S. EPA moves to stop defending a Biden administration rule that would strengthen limits on fine-particle pollution, including soot, and potentially prevent thousands of deaths. (Associated Press)
OFFSHORE WIND
The Trump administration fails to appeal a court ruling that overruled a federally ordered work stoppage and allowed construction to resume on the Revolution Wind project off Rhode Island. (CT Mirror)
NUCLEAR
Scientists from several European countries sign an agreement with China to collaborate on fusion research. (South China Morning Post)
BATTERIES
Redwood Materials, the battery-recycling firm led by Tesla cofounder JB Straubel, cuts dozens of employees as it scales back some projects. (Bloomberg)
UTILITIES
Virginia regulators approve a new rate class for large customers demanding 25 MW or more and sign off on Dominion Energy’s request to build a $1.47 billion, 944-MW gas peaker plant despite opposition from community and environmental groups. (Virginia Mercury, news release)
New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherill (D) has vowed to freeze utility rates, but it may be a difficult promise to keep as the state’s largest utility plans to spend billions to build new power plants. (E&E News)
DATA CENTERS
Amazon plans to invest an additional $15 billion in northern Indiana data centers, while utility NIPSCO plans to add 3 GW worth of gas generation and battery storage to serve them. (Utility Dive)
The deal with Amazon will test NIPSCO’s strategy to create a separate entity that owns power plants for large energy users in an attempt to shield other customers from additional costs. (E&E News)
U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, proposes legislation aimed at protecting consumers and the power grid from rising data center-driven electricity demand. (E&E News)
TRANSPORTATION
California’s air quality board plans to begin developing new emissions limits for heavy-duty trucks after Congress shot down the state’s ban on gas-fueled vehicles. (Politico)
POLITICS
The U.S. Department of Energy’s move to roll back tribes’ powers to veto hydropower projects on their land sparks broader conversations about energy development and tribal sovereignty. (E&E News)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Rivian CEO R.J. Scaringe says the EV maker is banking on a software advantage and its newest vehicle, the two-row crossover R2, to renew its fortunes and boost the company’s planned Georgia factory. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
COMMENTARY
A Colorado columnist says the rapid expansion of energy-intensive data centers in the Western U.S. could transform the region’s power grid, economies, and landscapes as dramatically as the post-World War II buildout of coal plants and transmission lines. (High Country News)
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