Reuters: US presidential Candidate Booker Proposes $3 Trillion Climate Change Plan
“U.S. presidential hopeful Cory Booker unveiled a $3 trillion plan to address climate change on Tuesday, vowing to reach a 100% clean energy economy by 2045 by sharply curbing fossil fuels while investing heavily in renewable energy sources.”
Utility Dive: North Carolina calls on Duke to examine coal retirement scenarios in next IRP
“‘We’re glad the N.C. Utilities Commission didn’t rubber-stamp Duke’s plans and instead ordered a full analysis of how their coal-heavy business-as-usual model stacks up against renewable energy, energy efficiency and storage,’ said Dave Rogers, Sierra Club’s Southeast deputy regional director for the Beyond Coal campaign.”
Madison.com: Sierra Club: Shuttering coal plants could save ratepayers $138M a year
“In testimony filed on behalf of the environmental group, utility analyst Paul Chernick estimates We Energies has lost an average of $98 million a year since 2014 operating its South Oak Creek and Elm Road plants, while WPS Corp. lost roughly $40 million on its share of two other plants. Chernick claims customers would be better off if the plants closed, even if the utility continues earning a profit on those assets. He argues it would be cheaper for the utility to replace both plants with wind, solar and storage resources.”
Greentech Media: the biggest batteries coming soon to a grid near you
“This size trend reflects the increasing ambitions of storage developers to serve not just a little frequency regulation but real bulk capacity. Some projects on this list explicitly set out to take over for gas plants; others are designed to make use of an overabundance of solar energy, turning it into peak power and thereby obviating the need for more gas burn.”
S&P: MISO to add 4 GW of capacity in 2019, about half natural gas, half renewables
“Gas-fired plants are usually “getting built because it makes commercial sense based on market price signals,” Gulen said in an email Tuesday. “In contrast, wind and solar are built mostly thanks to subsidies and mandates, which contribute significantly to attractive prices.”
Utility Dive: Clean energy groups urge FERC to support transmission investment incentives
“Eighteen groups dubbed the Grid Advancement Coalition told federal regulators they support new policies to increase investment in the transmission grid, specifically to improve operational efficiency and expand access to ‘low-cost remote resources.'”
Pew Reserach Center: U.S. concern about climate change is rising, but mainly among Democrats
“The share of Americans calling global climate change a major threat to the well-being of the United States has grown from 40% in 2013 to 57% this year, Pew Research Center surveys have shown. But the rise in concern has largely come from Democrats. Opinions among Republicans on this issue remain largely unchanged.”
Reuters: Surge in young Republicans worried about the environment: survey
“The new report by Glocalities, which canvassed views worldwide, showed the number of U.S. Republicans who said they ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ with the statement “I worry about the damage humans cause the planet” rose by 11 percentage points to 58% between 2014 and 2019. The number of Republican voters aged 18-34 who are worried about the issue rose by 18 percentage points to 67%, said the poll.”