The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted to repeal President Joe Biden's suspension of tariffs on solar panels from four Southeast Asian nations, a measure aimed at supporting the small domestic manufacturing industry. Biden has vowed to veto the legislation, which passed the House of Representatives last week. It is not expected to have enough support to override a presidential veto. The United States has been trying to strike a tricky balance between supporting the creation of a domestic solar supply chain while keeping cheap imports flowing to projects needed to move the U.S. away from its reliance on fossil fuels. Biden waived tariffs on certain solar imports from Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam for two years last June after solar project developers said they would increase their costs and freeze development.
A new bill in California proposes making electric vehicles a backup power source for the electric grid. Under a proposal put forward by state Senator Nancy Skinner, all new electric vehicles sold in California starting in 2027 would need the ability to both store and send power. Dozens of environmental, health, and community groups support it, while the largest automakers’ trade group opposes the bill. The intent of the proposal is to provide California with electricity on days when supplies are tight, Skinner said at a recent state Senate committee hearing.
A growing roster of battery storage providers is eager to serve the newfound demand created when California ended net metering for solar on April 15. California residential solar installations are expected to drop 38% in 2024, the first full year with the new rules, said solar analyst Zoë Gaston at Wood Mackenzie (that’s enough to depress national home solar installations by 3%). But Gaston also predicts the share of California home solar deals paired with batteries will rise from 11% today to over 80% by 2027. Californians installed 251 MW of residential batteries in 2022, and that’s set to double this year, according to Wood Mackenzie’s projections.
The California Public Utilities Commission last Thursday approved a proposal from Pacific Gas & Electric for a hybrid battery energy storage and hydrogen fuel cell system that will provide power to a Northern California substation that is prone to wildfire-related electricity shutoffs. The 8.5 MW microgrid, which will be developed by Energy Vault, is expected to generate up to 293 MWh during a 48-hour period, although actual generation may vary depending on the length of the power outage and other factors, PG&E said in its proposal to the commission.
Federal regulators have released new documents outlining some of the impacts of the Goldendale Energy Storage Project in Washington — including likely damage to sacred Indigenous sites. The Goldendale facility would operate like a giant battery, using natural geography and gravity to cycle water through underground turbines, and then back up again to recharge. If built, it would be the largest pumped storage project in the Northwest. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will accept written comments on its draft environmental impact statement through June 6.
Portland General Electric Company (PGE) procured 400 MW of new battery storage projects, reportedly the largest single procurement of standalone energy storage to date by a U.S. utility outside California. The projects, located at substations close to electrical demand, will store enough electricity to power all PGE customer homes in a city the size of Portland for an entire evening on battery-delivered energy.
EE North America has acquired a majority stake in the Sandy Hill Solar and Sand Dune Solar projects, located in Colorado, adding 700 MW to its existing solar pipeline under development. The projects, which are being pursued in a joint venture with Horus Energy, will be interconnecting with the Public Service of Colorado network. They are expected to commence construction in 2025.
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