The Biden administration is putting almost $3.5 billion into improving the strength and resiliency of the U.S. electric grid, government officials said on Wednesday. The money is coming from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which President Joe Biden signed in November 2021, and Wednesday’s announcement marks the first round of funding out of $10.5 billion that was allocated as part of the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program to improve the nation’s electric grid. The $3.46 billion will go to 58 projects across 44 states, including some 400 microgrids across the country, the Department of Energy said.
Governor Gavin Newsom on October 7 signed into law SB 410, aimed at speeding customer interconnections to the utility grid and helping the state to electrify buildings and vehicles. Distribution system improvements can take six months to a year in some areas of the state and are slowing customer adoption of clean energy appliances, according to bill sponsor Senator Josh Becker. The bill directs the California Public Utilities Commission to set average and target time periods for grid connections and upgrades. It is supported by several clean energy groups while Pacific Gas & Electric has expressed concern about the balance between speed and safety when it comes to grid upgrades.
The Solar Energy Industries Association last Thursday said it had reached a wide-ranging agreement with environmental, conservation, farm, and tribal groups, aimed at reducing conflicts over where to build big solar energy facilities. The deal between the Solar Energy Industries Association, The Nature Conservancy, and nearly two dozen other parties establishes six working groups to address issues including community engagement, tribal relations, policy solutions, and technologies that enable solar and farming in the same location. The groups will seek to develop best practices that solar companies and local officials can use to plan projects.
In a highly anticipated announcement, President Joe Biden on Friday named California as one of seven recipients of a $7-billion federal hydrogen hub grant program geared toward accelerating the nation’s clean energy efforts and ambitious climate targets. The state will receive up to $1.2 billion to build or expand on hydrogen projects that will help power public transportation, port operations, and heavy-duty transport — sectors known to be major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution in the state. Though officials in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., hailed the program as a pivotal moment in the nation’s move toward carbon neutrality, critics expressed concern about hydrogen’s potential as a source of clean energy.
Governor Gavin Newsom signed new legislation into law that requires battery storage facilities to implement safety and communication protocols. SB 38 makes it a requirement for battery storage facilities in the state to put in place emergency response and emergency plans, in addition to existing requirements for their maintenance and operation to meet standards set by the regulatory California Public Utilities Commission.
Clean energy non-profit MCE is powering up its first utility-scale solar + storage project, one of the largest operating solar and storage hybrid facilities in the country. Clearway Energy Group’s Daggett Solar-Plus-Storage project in San Bernardino County generates 482 MW of solar, combined with 280 MW of energy storage. It supplies enough energy to power more than 181,000 homes.
The government of New Jersey’s southernmost county has joined with environmental and fishing industry groups in suing the federal government in a bid to overturn its approval of the state’s first offshore wind energy farm, the Ocean Wind I project. The plaintiffs allege that the two agencies did not follow the requirements of nearly a dozen federal laws in approving the project, and claim the agencies did not adequately consider potential harm to the environment and marine life from offshore wind projects.
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