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April 29 News: Utilities And Large Companies Like North Carolina’s Clean Energy Standard
First published on ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, which was recently named one of Time magazine’s Top 25 blogs of 2010.
More on how the bill to repeal North Carolina’s clean energy standard. Hint: it isn’t just the clean energy industry that likes clean energy. [Dallas Morning News]
When North Carolina Republicans brought forward a bill pushed by ALEC, the conservative lobbying group, to gut the state’s renewable energy standards this year, they figured they had a model piece of pro-business legislation that would sail through.
But, as North American Windpower gleefully reported, it died in committee.
Key to the story is the committee where it died, public utilities and energy. It died there because the state’s electrical utilities, mainly Duke Energy, which bought out rival Progress Energy last year, didn’t support it, despite the fact that the bill’s prime sponsor formerly worked there.
What happened?
Duke has found out how to make money with renewables. Its non-regulated Duke Energy Renewables unit plans to double production from wind, solar and biomass projects this decade. Big customers including Google and Apple, both of which have large data centers in the state, are supporting a new green energy rate, reports the Charlotte Business Journal.
It turns out solar and wind projects offer big advantages to electric utility companies. They can get a premium rate for solar power, whose supply peaks in the afternoon alongside the higher load of air conditioning.
Streetcar fan and Mayor of Charlotte Anthony Foxx will be President Obama’s nominee to be the next Secretary of Transportation. [Charlotte Observer]
Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) could chair the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee if she wins re-election next year. [National Journal]
EPA has revised downward its estimates of how much methane leaks from natural gas fracking practices. [AP]
New report: Australia’s coal reserves are a dangerous financial bubble, and its coal industry a dinosaur, if the world acts on cutting carbon pollution. [Guardian]
Even as China leads the world in total carbon emissions, it is also “accelerating action” on cutting electricity demand and adding renewable energy to its portfolio. [Phys.org]
Could Champagne be moving to England as temperatures rise? [Washington Post]
The Ohio EPA would like to know why natural gas pipelines are spilling slurry into their wetlands. [Columbus Dispatch]
The world’s largest solar photovoltaic development is being constructed 60 miles outside of Los Angeles. [EarthTechling]
Unlike House legislation, Senate bill language would not exempt oil companies from having to disclose payments to foreign governments in a U.S.-Mexico energy accord. [The Hill]
Rising sea levels are starting to hit home off the coast of New Jersey. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
And South Carolina. [AP]
A 518 kilowatt solar PV system was installed on the grounds of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Motherhouse Campus in Monroe, Michigan. [AP]
On Wednesday, a solar plane will attempt to fly from San Francisco to New York City. [NPR]
Virginia’s new transportation law lowers the gas tax but places a fee on electric and hybrid cars. [USA Today]
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2013-04-29 08:46:06
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