fossil fuel

The Blue Creek wind farm, which spans Paulding and Van Wert counties in Ohio, consists of 152 wind turbines with a total capacity of 304 megawatts. (Photo by Robert Zullo/ States Newsroom)

Rural electric co-ops to get $10.7B in USDA funds for clean energy grants, loans

BY: - May 16, 2023

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will begin to administer two loan and grant programs worth nearly $11 billion to boost clean energy systems in rural areas, administration officials said Tuesday. Congress approved the federal spending — $9.7 billion for a grant and loan program the department is calling the New Empowering Rural America program, or […]

EPA again proposes power plant carbon rules

BY: - May 12, 2023

The Obama administration’s 2015 Clean Power Plan — intended to cut carbon emissions from power plants — was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.  The Trump administration’s much-criticized replacement, the Affordable Clean Energy rule, derided as a “tortured series of misreadings” of the U.S. Clean Air Act, was also tossed by a federal court. […]

The nation’s biggest electric capacity market needs fixing, critics say

BY: - March 20, 2023

The nation’s largest grid operator is warning it might not have enough electric generation in the future to guarantee reliability.  And it comes as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission convenes a forum on the multibillion-dollar capacity market PJM operates to ensure there’s enough power to meet demand even during grid emergencies, such as during Winter […]

Arkansas panel votes to ban state investments with managers who consider ESG factors

BY: - February 15, 2023

Arkansas lawmakers voted on Wednesday to divest state holdings from financial services providers that do not invest in energy or firearms companies. Approval from the House State Agencies and Government Affairs Committee was House Bill 1307‘s first step to becoming law. It now goes before the full House for consideration. The bill directs the state […]

LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA - AUGUST 27: Utility employees work on downed power lines after Hurricane Laura passed through the area on August 27, 2020 in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Laura made landfall in low-lying Louisiana with a top wind speed of 150 mph, putting it among the most powerful storms ever to strike the U.S. The expected catastrophic storm surge however wound up being 9-12 feet, far from the worst forecast of 15-20 feet, though still destructive. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Affordable, reliable and sustainable: report compares utility performance 

BY: - January 23, 2023

A nationwide comparison of electric utility performance by an Illinois consumer advocacy group found that customers in states that are heavily reliant on fuel oil and natural gas, as in the Northeast and South, tend to pay more than those with larger amounts of carbon-free generation, among other findings.  The report by the Illinois-based Citizens […]

As utilities spend billions on transmission, support builds for independent monitoring  

BY: - November 21, 2022

An aging electric grid, fossil fuel power plant retirements and a massive renewable electricity buildout are all contributing to a boom in transmission and distribution wire projects by electric utilities across the country.  In 2020, investor-owned electric utilities spent $25 billion on transmission, up from $23.7 billion in 2019, figures that the Edison Electric Institute, […]

Smoke rises from a coal-fired power plant in Romeoville, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Report says many utilities are slow-walking clean energy goals

BY: - October 5, 2022

DENVER — A report released this week by the Sierra Club faults dozens of utilities that provide a major chunk of U.S. electric generation for failing to speed up their decarbonization efforts.  “For the sake of our communities and planet, we must do everything in our power to create a clean, renewable electric grid by […]

PR work for ‘Big Oil’ helped stymie climate action, U.S. House Democrats say

BY: - September 14, 2022

 WASHINGTON – Public relations firms aligned with oil and gas companies have tested the limits of their industry ethics and caused major slowdowns to federal climate change policy, Democrats on a U.S. House panel said at a Wednesday hearing. The firms’ conduct went beyond the bounds of ethical public relations work, Democrats on the House […]

A third of U.S. House Democrats oppose Manchin permitting deal in stopgap spending bill

BY: - September 12, 2022

WASHINGTON – The group of U.S. House Democrats asking the chamber’s leaders not to include environmental permitting changes in a stopgap spending deal this month comprises 76 members, including senior leaders of budget and spending committees and factions across the caucus’ ideological spectrum. The 76 signers on a letter sent late last week and updated […]