Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm traveled to Wyoming last week to celebrate work on the 732-mile TransWest Express Transmission project. The line will add 3,000 MW of transmission capacity, sending electrons from what is set to be the country’s largest onshore wind project in Wyoming across four states for use in California, Arizona, and Nevada. The line represents a “momentous milestone” in the administration’s efforts to clean up the country’s power sector, including a goal of building 25,000 MW of renewable onshore energy on public lands by 2025, Haaland said.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a $7 billion competitive grant program that aims to give low-income communities access to residential solar panels. The agency will make up to 60 awards to community groups around the country representing specific states, Native Americans and Alaska Natives, and multi-state programs. The grants are part of the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund established by the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.
As a deadly, record-breaking heatwave puts the Texas grid to the test, renewable power sources are helping the state maintain energy reliability, contrary to some Texas lawmakers’ claims that clean energy is less reliable. Texas has for more than two weeks been blanketed by an oppressive heat dome, and federal forecasters say there is “no end in sight.” However even amid three-digit temperatures, the state has still managed to avoid rolling blackouts this month. A key reason, energy analysts say, is the state’s supply of solar power, which has doubled since early 2022.
San Diego Community Power, the community energy program that has enrolled about 900,000 accounts in the region, has approved a pair of solar-plus-storage projects to boost the amount of renewable power it delivers to customers in the next two years. The first is a 20-year deal with the Yellow Pine III project in Clark County, Nevada, that will deliver 35 MW of solar power capacity and 35 MW/140 MWh of lithium-ion battery storage capacity to the electric grid. The storage portion of the contract plans to be operational by June 2025, with the solar portion in place by October 2025.
Sustainable infrastructure investor Greenbacker Capital Management LLC (GCM) has acquired a 30 MW/120 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Imperial County from solar and storage developer SunCode LLC. The Holtville BESS, which is yet to enter construction, marks the largest standalone battery storage asset in GCM’s clean energy portfolio, the company said.
Leeward Renewable Energy (LRE) and Southern California Edison have entered into a 15-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for LRE’s 126 MW Antelope Valley BESS facility in Kern County. Antelope Valley BESS is expected to be operational in early 2024. The facility will be LRE’s first standalone battery energy storage system and will be capable of storing over 500 MWh of clean power that can be dispatched during the busiest load times.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking public input in preparation of an environmental assessment for the proposed Crescent Valley Geothermal Development Project in Eureka and Lander Counties. The proposed project considers the construction, operation, maintenance, and eventual reclamation of a geothermal energy production facility and associated transmission line. The transmission line would support an approximate 30 MW net rated geothermal power generating facility, operated by Ormat Nevada Inc.
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