The company currently originates and develops utility-scale wind, solar and energy storage projects in Texas, Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Tri Global Energy’s headquarters is in Dallas with regional development offices in Lubbock, Texas; El Paso and Forreston, Illinois; and Reynolds and Hartford City, Indiana. Read more here.
Tri Global Infographic: 100 MW Sugarloaf Wind project in Garden County, Nebraska.
Inside Clean Energy: The Energy Transition Comes to Nebraska, by Dan Gearino, Inside Climate News. Lincoln Electric System is the second large utility in Nebraska to approve a net-zero emissions goal, as the state reaps the benefits of wind power. Scott Benson, manager of resource and transmission planning for Lincoln Electric, told me that his utility’s new goal is a big deal because it is a more aggressive timetable than that of many other utilities across the country. But the net-zero goal is also not a big deal, he said, because Lincoln Electric was moving in this direction regardless.
NEAPCO
Neapco celebrates 100th anniversary, 40 years in Beatrice, Beatrice Daily Sun “We have a customer today that buys a lot of product from us, and they’re non-automotive,” [Chief Davidson, plant manager for Beatrice], said. “They’re actually in the solar power industry, and we provide the mechanisms that position their mirrors to track the sun. So that’s a little bit out of the norm for us, but it’s the same type of technology. We’re also very heavily involved with the electric vehicle manufacturers. We know that that’s an upcoming trend, and we’re working on various new products that will support that industry as it gets off the ground.”
WASHINGTON DC, August 23, 2021 – The American Clean Power Association (ACP) and the U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA) today announced that ESA’s member companies approved the merger to join ACP effective January 1, 2022.
“We are thrilled the member companies at the U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA) have endorsed the planned merger with ACP. This will enhance our ability to become a more forceful advocate for wind, solar, storage and transmission,” said Heather Zichal, CEO of ACP. “The merger will help deliver more value for our members and build a best-in-class trade association that is nimble, effective and able to represent all clean energy industries with a unified voice on some of our top priorities including the investment tax credit for storage projects.”Read more here.
Guide to 100% Clean Energy States This guide provides state officials and other stakeholders with information about the 18 states (plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) that have adopted 100% clean energy goals. It includes information about the plans and other implementation reports that some of those states have produced.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new bill introduced last week is aiming to make it cheaper for homeowners and businesses to install solar power roofs. The Raise the Roof Act, introduced by Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), would expand solar tax credits to cover a “cutting-edge integrated solar roofing system” as well as roof replacements and repairs.Read more here, including the full text of the Raise the Roof Act.
Related Reading – With Resources
Replacing Your Roof? It’s a Great Time to Add Solar,by Becca Jones-Albertus, Director of the Solar Energy Technologies Office within the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office.
Areportfrom Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that solar panels are viewed as upgrades and home buyers across the country have been willing to pay a premium of about $15,000 for a home with an average-sized solar array. Additionally, there is evidence homes with solar panels sell faster than those without.
At present, one circuit on Decorah’s grid does not have sufficient capacity to allow for the addition of many new solar projects in development. Upgrading the grid through traditional poles-and-wires and substation expansions would be twice as expensive as this battery project, according to Alliant Energy. Thus, the battery project is expected not only to allow for increased solar integration, but also to produce distribution system investment savings. Additional potential benefits, such as peak demand shaving and other storage applications, will be tested as additional means to reduce customer cost.
Decarbonized Buildings & Vehicles Create Good Missouri Jobs, by Gabrielle Habeeb & Alshok Gupta, NRDC Expert Blog. This week’s IPCC report makes it clear that heat waves will continue to worsen—so we must rise to the challenge in addressing and living with extreme heat events. The good news is that decarbonizing these sectors is also good for our economy. Today, Missouri is home to more than 50,000 clean energy jobs. Nebraska ranks 36th, with 17,846 clean energy jobs (page 16 of the E2: Clean Jobs America 2021 report).
A comprehensive resource for community decision makers to better understand the economic development potential during the development, construction, and operation of wind energy projects.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With a robust vote after weeks of fits and starts, the Senate approved a $1 trillion infrastructure plan for states coast to coast on Tuesday, as a rare coalition of Democrats and Republicans came together to overcome skeptics and deliver a cornerstone of President Joe Biden’s agenda.
“Today, we proved that democracy can still work,” Biden declared at the White House, taking note of the 69-30 vote that included even Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. Continue reading or watch the video here.
ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READING
Senate Passes Bipartisan Core Infrastructure Bill,News Release, Senator Deb Fischer
“This bipartisan bill makes long-awaited investments to rebuild and develop our nation’s core infrastructure. While not perfect, it includes resources for Nebraska in the key areas I wanted to see such as roads, bridges, water infrastructure, airports, and broadband.”
MILWAUKEE, July 27, 2021 – WEC Energy Group (NYSE: WEC) today announced that the company has agreed to acquire a 90% ownership interest in the Sapphire Sky Wind Energy Center. Located in McLean County, Illinois, the project is being developed by Invenergy — a leading global developer and operator of sustainable energy solutions. The Sapphire Sky site will consist of 64 wind turbines with a combined capacity of 250 megawatts. Commercial operation is expected by the end of 2022.Continue reading here.
Photo: Upstream Wind Energy Center in Antelope County, Nebraska
NextEra Energy “remains well-positioned to meet our 2021 and longer-term growth expectations,” NextEra President and CEO Jim Robo said in a statement. Meanwhile, NextEra Energy is also looking at significant opportunities in the years ahead in the transmission sector as well, [Rebecca Kujawa, executive vice president of finance and chief financial officer] said.
Photo: NextEra Energy’s Sholes Wind Farm in Wayne County, Nebraska
FAIRBURY, NE — A major renewable energy company is studying to see if Jefferson County would be a good spot for a new wind farm. The Jefferson County Commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve a special use permit for Big Blue Nebraska Wind LLC to build a meteorological tower. The tower will be built about two miles northwest of Harbine. Big Blue Nebraska Wind LLC is owned by NextEra Energy.
My Administration is making “Buy American” a policy, not just a promise. We are closing loopholes and strengthening standards to ensure that the future is made in all of America — by all of America’s workers — in every region, of every background, in services, manufacturing, and agriculture.
Some of Tri-State’s 43 member co-ops have voiced a desire to develop more homegrown and cleaner electric generation – they are required to buy 95% of their electricity from the association, which still has substantial coal-fired generation.
“This does not move the ball,” United Power CEO Mark Gabriel said. “I think they are off by three zeros,” he said of his co-op’s exit fee. The association’s filing was in response to a ruling in June by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that Tri-State’s exit policies were “unjust and unreasonable or unduly discriminatory.” Read more here.
Note: Nebraska Tri-State members seeking exit fees are the Wheat Belt Public Power District and the Northwest Rural Public Power District.
WASHINGTON DC, July 22, 2021 – The boards of directors of the American Clean Power Association (ACP) and the U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA) have voted to pursue a merger of the two trade associations to combine their staff, programs, and members. The merger will bring together the diverse membership and talented team members of ESA with the resources and reach of ACP. Additionally, it will enhance the American Clean Power Association’s efforts to advocate for the economic and environmental advantages of the clean power economy and further position the renewable energy and storage industries for success as they move into a decade of transformative growth.
WASHINGTON DC, June 7, 2021 – America’s decarbonization has the potential to create 500,000 – 600,000 new jobs for American workers across the solar, wind, and battery storage technologies by 2030, according to the new 2021 Clean Energy Labor Supplyreport, prepared by BW Research Partnership and released today by the American Clean Power Association (ACP) on the first day of theCLEANPOWER 2021 Virtual Summit. The reports finds that higher-than-average pay and significant union coverage are key aspects of the clean energy employment future over the next decade.
“One of the biggest challenges to meeting the Biden administration’s clean energy goals will be getting enough people trained and added to the workforce as quickly as possible. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for massive job creation, with high demand for a diversity of roles in manufacturing, construction, project development, and operations.” – Heather Zichal, ACP CEO
Energy storage is even maturing to the point where it can take the place of building a new power generation asset or building grid upgrades. “When you add storage to your mix, everything becomes more flexible. You can increase hosting capacity of a transmission circuit without having to build a lot of new facilities. So, it’s easy to think of it as a competitor, but what it really is, is more of an enabler and a partner.” – Jason Burwen, interim CEO of the Energy Storage Association. Read more here.
Navisun is focused on small utility-scale solar farms and community solar farms. It co-develops, acquires, owns, and operates the solar projects. The two it has just completed, one of which is a community solar farm, are fairly small projects, totaling 3.8 MW of solar power, but the company is just getting rolling and it intends to build and operate many more.
Investments in renewable capacity totaled more than$2.5 trillionbetween 2010-2019, according to BloombergNEF data. Solar alone drew in half of those funds—$1.3 trillion to be exact—and grew from just 25 GW at the beginning of 2010 to more than 660 GW by the end of the decade. That’s enough energy to power 100 million homes in the U.S. each year. The high volume of capital flowing into the renewable energy sector has increased asset prices. To counter this, private equity firms seeking higher returns are turning to projects under development as opposed to ones already operating.
Last week, the cloud-based software company Salesforce notified its thousands of suppliers that it will include language in all future procurement contracts requiring them, among other things, to set science-based targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. And it set financial penalties for those that don’t. It was an unprecedented and bold move that, if emulated by others and aggressively enforced, could transform companies and markets far faster than any regulation ever could.
Biden’s nominations to the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority could help fulfill his climate promise by making TVA a model for how public power can lead the clean energy transition, writes guest commentator Gaby Sarri-Tobar, a campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity’s Energy Justice program.
WASHINGTON — The United Mine Workers of America leadership announced Monday they support President Joe Biden’s green energy policies in exchange for a robust transition strategy, a move the union hopes its membership will support as a way to transition toward new jobs.
In his $2 trillion infrastructure plan, Biden proposed a sweeping investment in green energy such as wind, solar and other renewable energy projects. In an effort to help fossil fuel workers transition to new jobs, the plan also includes billions of dollars to employ dislocated utility workers in the coal, oil and gas industries. Read more here.
Emerging offshore wind industry provides careers of the future, by Jen Scungio, American Clean Power Association. Putting steel in the water to deliver clean energy from offshore wind to communities will require a workforce with a diverse skillset to plan, construct, and operate offshore wind farms. In fact, ACPresearchshows reaching 30 GW of U.S. offshore wind by 2030 will create 83,000 new American jobs. Since74 different occupationsare needed to build, operate, and maintain an offshore wind farm, the possible opportunities for those interested in offshore wind careers are endless.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is in discussions with the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) to develop a formal approach between the states and FERC “that will allow us to jointly tackle” transmission issues head on, FERC Chairman Richard Glick said on April 15.
“Our communities were once heavily dependent on fossil fuel energy, but now we are seeing change happen,” said Navajo NationPresident Jonathan Nez. “[The Red Mesa solar farm] is another milestone for the Navajo Nation as we continue to transition to clean, emissions-free renewable energy for our communities and in the open market.” A far more massive proposed project, the $3.6 billion Navajo Energy Storage Station, is slowly advancing through the regulatory process. Image Credit: Navajo Tribal Utility Authority
CARBON NATION DOCUMENTARY & NEW RESEARCH
Carbon Nation at 10: The future’s not what it used to be, GreenBiz article contributed by Peter Byck Much has changed in these past 10 years: Coal was 42 percent of our energy mix in the United States; it’s now 23 percent. Large-scale solar electricity was about 38 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2011, it’s now less than 7 cents. Onshore wind was between 8.2 cents and 11.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, it is now between 2.6 cents and 5.7 cents.
Peter Byck is a professor of practice at Arizona State University, in both the School of Sustainability and the Cronkite School of Journalism. He is director, producer and writer of “Carbon Nation.” He is helping to lead a $5.3 million research project on Adaptive Multi-Paddock (AMP) grazing; collaborating with 20 scientists and 10 ranchers, focused on soil health and soil carbon storage, microbial/bug/bird biodiversity, water cycling and much more.
FOOD & ENVIRONMENT REPORTING NETWORK
How farmers can be at the forefront of the climate solution, FERN’s Ag Insider Robert Leonard is the author of “Deep Midwest: Midwestern Explorations.” Matt Russell is a co-owner of Coyote Run Farm and the executive director of Iowa Interfaith Power and Light.
The Food & Environment Reporting Network is the first independent, non-profit news organization that produces in-depth and investigative journalism in the critically under-reported areas of food, agriculture, and environmental health. Through partnerships with local and national mainstream media outlets, we seek to tell stories that will inspire, inform, and have lasting impact.
A new studyby Oregon State Universityresearchers found that shade provided by solar panels increased the abundance of flowers under the panels and delayed the timing of their bloom, both findings that could aid the agricultural community.
How To Decipher Home Solar Warranties, bySarah Lozanova, Earth911 Buying a solar energy system is a significant purchase . It is also one of the few home upgrades that will pay for itself in savings. However, the savings from a solar system relies on long-term energy production. If a solar panel or inverter fails, it will decrease the output of the array. Solar warranties protect homeowners from costly repairs and help ensure the system is producing clean energy for decades.
Often, homeowners get two or three proposals for a solar system and then have trouble comparing them without extensive research. Examining the product and labor warranties is one way todifferentiate between different bids. Broadly speaking, there are two general types of warranties: for the equipment itself and the labor.
By John Hensley, Vice President, Research & Analytics, American Clean Power Association. Jesse Broehl contributed to this post.
Wind energy has grown substantially in the United States over the past decades, contributing ever-greater revenue to states and local jurisdictions, including school districts. Within two years of completion, a wind project helps deliver approximately $1,000 per child in new revenue to the local school district. This increase in revenue grows to between $1,500 and $1,800 per child several years after installation.
These are among the key findings from a new Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) report released that examines the impacts of wind energy on school district revenues, expenditures, resource allocations, and student achievement. The study uses data on the timing, location, and capacity of wind energy installations in the U.S. from 1995 through 2017 and correlated school district data. In 1995 wind energy was just getting started in the U.S. and only 16 school districts had wind projects installed within their boundaries at that time. By 2016, wind energy production had spread across 38 states, affecting 900 school districts. Continue reading here.
A webinar covering the results of the study recorded on March 26, 2021, can be viewed here.
Nebraska: In 2010, the Nebraska Legislature passed a bill which exempted wind energy generation systems from property taxes, although the law allows a county assessor to evaluate real property and land used by wind generation facilities. The property tax is replaced by a nameplate capacity tax of $3,518 per megawatt. In 2017, this tax generated $3,056,623 for Nebraska counties, with $1,862,959 going to local schools. Page 46 of the study.
Last week, the cloud-based software company Salesforce notified its thousands of suppliers that it will include language in all future procurement contracts requiring them, among other things, to set science-based targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. And it set financial penalties for those that don’t. It was an unprecedented and bold move that, if emulated by others and aggressively enforced, could transform companies and markets far faster than any regulation ever could.
Much has changed in these past 10 years: Coal was 42 percent of our energy mix in the United States; it’s now 23 percent. Large-scale solar electricity was about 38 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2011, it’s now less than 7 cents. Onshore wind was between 8.2 cents and 11.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, it is now between 2.6 cents and 5.7 cents.
Oregon State University study finds flowers flourish underneath solar panels,
