The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing to ease environmental reviews for certain energy storage, solar, and rebuilt or upgraded transmission projects on federal land. Those types of projects — given their limited effect on the environment — would be eligible for “categorical exclusions” under the proposal published in the Federal Register. DOE proposed a new categorical exclusion for certain energy storage projects and revising others for transmission lines and solar projects, according to the notice. Under the proposal, eligible projects would not require an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement. Comments on the proposal are due January 2, 2024.
California regulators have ordered changes to the state’s shared-solar programs that critics say will ruin the economics of rooftop solar on apartment buildings, schools, and farms across much of the state. California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) President Alice Reynolds said that the changes will help California “achieve a constellation of goals including grid reliability, greenhouse gas reductions, affordability equity, consumer protections, and cost containment of utility bills.” The unanimous vote by the CPUC’s five commissioners makes major changes to the state’s virtual net energy metering and Net Energy Metering Aggregation programs, which allow properties with multiple electric meters to share one solar system’s electricity and bill credits.
More than 2 GW of community solar, enough to serve 393,000 homes, have been installed in New York. Community solar makes up 61% of total installations across the state this year to date, and its distributed solar pipeline comprises more than 8,700 projects. Once complete, these projects are expected to provide 3,297 MW of energy – enough to power more than 600,000 homes.
The mineral-rich stew bubbling beneath the shores of Southern California’s Salton Sea contains one of the largest lithium deposits in the world, with enough of the valuable metal to make batteries for more than 375 million electric vehicles, according to a long-awaited analysis commissioned by the Department of Energy published last Tuesday. Since there are fewer than 300 million vehicles on the road in the United States today, the study suggests there’s ample lithium in this remote desert outpost to help replace every gas-fueled vehicle in the country with an EV.
The U.S. Department of the Interior has approved the Empire Wind offshore project, owned by Equinor and BP, the sixth commercial-scale wind farm to be greenlit under President Joe Biden’s administration. Empire Wind is among several offshore wind projects facing construction and financing cost blowouts that the troubled industry says would not be covered by existing power sales contracts, but it could be helped by a new auction planned by New York state. The Interior Department said its approval of Empire Wind brings the country closer to its goal of deploying 30,000 MW of offshore wind along U.S. coastlines by 2030.
Sparkz, a company planning to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles, is in discussion about opening a battery plant at the former corporate headquarters of rocket manufacturer Aerojet Rocketdyne in Rancho Cordova. Sparkz officials did not respond to email and phone requests for comment. But the California Energy Commission is examining whether Sparkz can transfer two grants it gave Sparkz, one for $2.6 million in 2021 and another for $12.6 million in 2022, to manufacture the batteries at the Aerojet Rocketdyne site, commission Communications Director Lindsay Buckley said.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has approved the Construction and Operations Plan (COP) of the 704 MW Revolution Wind Farm project off Rhode Island and Connecticut. The final approval by the U.S. Department of the Interior agency was met with a subsequent appeal by the Preservation Society of Newport County, alleging in part that BOEM has not complied with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act.
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