Energy Democracy Media Roundup — Week of April 15, 2019

Date: 16 Apr 2019 | posted in: Energy | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

This week in Energy Democracy news: 

Congress may be considering a bill that grants tax credits for energy storage. Illinois awarded its first batch of renewable energy credits to 112 community solar projects, leaving 800 projects on the waiting list. Plus, youth organizers are pushing for a statewide Green New Deal in Minnesota.

 

Featured:

Why Does One Minnesota Utility Have A Love / Hate Relationship With Community Solar? by John Farrell, CleanTechnica

Like many investor-owned utilities, Xcel operates under a business model where shareholder profits are highest when the utility owns as much of the grid and its power plants as possible.

Lawmakers warming to green power mandates by Geof Koss, E&E News

Four Midwestern rural electric cooperatives are installing smart batteries in the homes of a few customers to test whether they can economically reduce peak demand or provide other benefits to customers or their systems.

Midwest co-ops test value of placing batteries in customers’ homes by Karen Uhlenhuth, Energy News Network

Solar Installations Gain Ground in US Cities by Emma Foehringer Merchant, Green Tech Media

Solar capacity is gaining in urban areas across the U.S., according to a report released this week by Environment America Research & Policy Center and climate research organization the Frontier Group.

Efficiency reduces energy burdens for low-income multifamily households by Stefen Samarripas, American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy

Cheap Renewables Shave $10 Trillion Off Cost to Curb Warming by Brian Parkin, Bloomberg

The group known as Irena revised down its estimates for global investments needed by 2050 in clean energy to meet targets under the Paris Agreement on climate change. The Abu Dhabi-based group now says $115 trillion is needed, down from $125 trillion a year ago, reflecting lower costs to build wind and solar farms.

Of New Power Generation, How Much Is On The Roof? Annual Update — 2018 by John Farrell, CleanTechnica

 

Energy Democracy News Across the States:

California

California’s solar power record setting season is here by John Weaver, PV Magazine

Kevin de León Wants Cleantech to Focus More on Equity and Access by Julian Spector, Clean Tech Media

 

Florida

Lawmakers Look At The Power Utility Companies Have On State Energy Standards by Kevin Del Orbe, WUSF News

 

Illinois

Illinois Awards 215 Megawatts of Community Solar, but Developers Left Hungry by Kevin Stark, Green Tech Media

 

Iowa

Legislators’ proposed fee for new Iowa solar users faces uncertain fate, The Gazette

 

Maryland

Most environmentalists cheer Maryland’s new 50 percent green energy goal, but some want it vetoed. Here’s why. By Scott Dance, Baltimore Sun

 

Minnesota

Minnesota credit unions roll out residential solar loan program by Frank Jossi, Energy News Network

How youth organizers are pushing Minnesota toward its own Green New Deal by Eillie Anzilotti, Fast Company

 

Nevada

NV Energy exceeds RPS requirement for 9th year, warns of possible noncompliance ahead of major solar projects by Riley Snyder, The Nevada Independent

 

Oklahoma

Wind energy sets new record on the Southwest Power Pool’s grid by Jack Money, The Oklahoman

 

Pennsylvania

PPL releases sustainability report by Melina Druga, Pennsylvania Business Report

 

Texas

Report Reinforces Role Of Texas In Wind Energy by Michael Hagerty, Houston Public Media

 

Virginia

Last pieces of mega Spotsylvania solar project approved by Robert Zullo, Virginia Mercury

 

Washington

Legislature’s energy plan: A coal-free Washington by 2025 by Joel Connelly, Seattle PI

 

Nationwide Energy Democracy News:

Bankrupt FirstEnergy Solutions spends millions on bailout campaigns in Ohio and Pennsylvania by Dave Anderson, Energy and Policy Institute

Amazon Is Aggressively Pursuing Big Oil as It Stalls Out on Clean Energy by Brian Merchant, Gizmodo

Amazon hasn’t announced any new deals to supply clean energy to its data centers since 2016, and it quietly abandoned plans for one of its last scheduled wind farms last year. Meanwhile, in 2017, according to internal company documents viewed by Gizmodo, Amazon undertook a concerted push to win over a new industry, perhaps best summed up by the name of a presentation at Amazon Web Services’ annual company Sales Kick-Off event that February: “Positioning for Success in Oil & Gas.”

In Colorado and beyond, community ‘barn raising’ helps tribes build solar by John Fialka, Climatewire

US House Introduces Energy Storage Tax Credit Bill by Jeff St. John, Green Tech Media

The Energy Storage Tax Incentive and Deployment Act, introduced Thursday by Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA), is the latest update to a bill first introduced in 2016 by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM). Its goal, broadly speaking, is to extend to batteries and other electric storage systems the same 30 percent ITC offered to solar PV systems.

Energy Equity: Bringing Solar Power to Low-Income Communities by Maria Gallucci, Yale Environment 360

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