Good morning! Cleantech entrepreneurs have been trying for years to reinvent pumped hydro storage and to harness the sea to produce energy. Sizeable Energy tells Julian Spector it’s found a way to do both — with help from giant, inflatable donuts it plans to deploy off the coast.
Xcel Energy is meanwhile taking a more traditional approach to energy storage. It’s seeking permission to double the planned capacity of a battery installation at its massive, under-construction Sherco solar facility, Brian Martucci reports.
Next, I wrap up our election coverage with a look at the clean energy challenges facing Virginia’s new Democratic trifecta. And Maria Gallucci recaps a panel she moderated with Microsoft and Google energy and data center leaders, where they shared how clean power sources and load flexibility will help them meet new demand.
COP30 climate talks begin in Brazil, without an appearance from any federal U.S. officials. (Associated Press)
CLEAN ENERGY
Solar panel maker Qcells announces it will furlough 1,000 workers and 300 staffing agency employees at its Georgia factories as U.S. customs officials detain shipments of solar cells because of a 2021 law banning imports from a region of China. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Reuters)
Pine Gate Renewables blames its bankruptcy on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s phaseout of clean energy tax credits and “foreign entity of concern” provisions. (Financial Times)
FOSSIL FUELS
New York and New Jersey issue the state-level approvals needed for a previously rejected natural gas pipeline to move forward, leaving environmental advocates feeling “betrayed,” but still determined to fight the project. (Inside Climate News)
Trump’s attacks on wind energy on the East Coast are hurting related Louisiana businesses that are also a significant part of the offshore oil and gas industry along the Gulf Coast. (Louisiana Illuminator)
POLITICS
An analysis of U.S. Democratic politicians’ social media posts, speeches, and podcast appearances shows they’re mentioning climate change far less in the years since the Inflation Reduction Act’s passage, and instead emphasizing energy affordability. (Washington Post)
The pipeline approvals reflect a political shift, as the traditionally blue Northeast softens its stance on fossil fuels in the face of federal pressure and soaring energy prices, analysts say. (E&E News)
GRID
The Southwest Power Pool plans an $8.6 billion slate of 50 transmission projects across its 14-state footprint that the grid operator says will help meet peak demand over the next decade. (Utility Dive)
DATA CENTERS
The U.S. data center boom could increase carbon emissions by the equivalent of adding 5 million to 10 million cars to the road each year, as well as significantly stress water supplies, according to new research from Cornell University. (E&E News)
NUCLEAR
California regulators hold off on approving Pacific Gas & Electric’s plan to continue operating its Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, saying the utility must first dedicate thousands of acres of land to conservation to mitigate its cooling system’s impacts on the ocean. (Tribune, E&E News)
HYDROPOWER
Indigenous advocates and officials push back on U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s bid to revoke a 2024 federal policy giving tribal nations veto power over proposed hydropower projects on their land. (E&E News)
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Hydrostor is modernizing the grid—building utility-scale energy storage using domestic supply chains and skilled labor, leveraging technology from the oil and gas industry and expertise from the mining industry.
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