Tag Archives: Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm

What the G7 Summit could mean for the climate

World Economic Forum

High up on the agenda of the leaders of seven of the most industrialized nations will be the low-carbon transition of their economies and ensuring the 1.5 °C Paris Agreement global warming target. Through net zero emissions commitments since COP26, these countries have been hammering out policy changes thick and fast to phase out fossil fuels and decarbonize their economies. At the 2021 G7 gather in the United Kingdom, leaders emphasized the need to adapt their economies and mobilize finance to ward off climate change. Here, they also set up the G7 2030 Nature Compact – a pledge to have 30% of global land and 30% of global oceans within conservation areas by 2030. Read more here.

About the Writers

  • Nathan Cooper: Lead, Partnerships and Engagement Strategy, Climate Action Platform, World Economic Forum
  • Lukas Bester: Freelance Researcher and Writer – World Economic Forum, Sustainable Development Consultant in Emerging Markets

Image Credit: German Council on Foreign Relations

From the White House Briefing Room

FACT SHEET: President Biden and G7 Leaders Formally Launch the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment

The Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment will deliver game-changing projects to close the infrastructure gap in developing countries, strengthen the global economy and supply chains, and advance U.S. national security. President Biden will announce new flagship projects and lay out the Administration’s comprehensive effort to execute the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment.

Department of Energy News Release

#PeoplePowered with Secretary Granholm: Black Women Changemakers in Clean Energy

In the latest episode of People Powered, Secretary Granholm was joined by entrepreneurs and innovators who are part of a long legacy of Black women making incredible impact on our nation and on the future of clean energy.

Get Engaged 

Are you an entrepreneur? Innovator? Student? Check out our programs and resources to jump in and work with the U.S. Department of Energy: 

  • Work with us: Join the clean energy revolution by applying for a slot in the Clean Energy Corps. The Clean Energy Corps is a diverse group of talented individuals committed to public service and with a mission of supercharging the clean energy revolution. This is YOUR opportunity to join us in making that future a reality. Share your resume at www.energy.gov/cleanenergycorps.  

Stay Tuned! 

Don’t miss our other episodes of People Powered, including a conversation between Secretary Granholm and climate mayors from Phoenix, Houston, and New Orleans, and one-on-one chats with people in the clean energy movement like a solar installer, an EV truck driver, and a city sustainability manager. Plus, more episodes of People Powered are on deck, showcasing informal, genuine conversations between folks at the Department of Energy and energy communities, innovators, activists, workers, and leaders.  

Additional Recommended Reading 

DOE Partners With Carnegie Mellon University to Launch The 2022 Global Clean Energy Action Forum, U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of International Affairs

Solar Industry Launches Nonprofit to Alleviate Clean Energy Roadblocks

SEIA News Release

While the organization will focus on a variety of issues, one emerging challenge in the solar industry is land use. Siting clean energy projects requires community engagement and long-term planning that minimizes impact to the environment and surrounding community. These projects must also account for access to transmission lines, upgrades to grid infrastructure, and several other factors that can affect the outcome of a large-scale solar project. SI2’s first research project will create best practices for solar companies looking to create large-scale solar projects and other resources that will help the industry navigate these challenges. Read more here. 

To learn more about the new nonprofit, visit Solar and Storage Industries Institute (SI2): www.ssii.org 

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READING  

NFS Note: As the Energy Information Association (EIA) data show, Nebraska and Iowa continue to lag behind most states on Solar as a Percentage of Total Generation (SPG): Nebraska 0.17% / Iowa 0.47%. Both states, however, are national leaders on Solar + Wind as a percentage of Total Generation (SWPG): Nebraska – 31.22% / Iowa – 67% (currently #1).

FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

The U.S. Government Has Ambitious Energy Goals. Community Solar Will Be Key To Achieving Them

By Allison Steele, Coalition For Community Solar Access

Summit Ridge Energy recently unveiled the nation’s largest rooftop community solar array, a 9.2-MW solar project in Maryland that will provide monthly energy savings to about 1,300 residential and small commercial customers across the state. 

“This is a marquee project for Summit Ridge, our capital partners at Hannon Armstrong and the entire community solar industry,” said Steve Reader, CEO of Summit. “Leveraging 23 acres of largely unused roof space to generate energy savings for thousands of Marylanders is precisely the direction our nation’s energy generation strategy needs to head.”  Read more here.

NFS Note: Nebraska has many small towns and villages with fewer than 1,000 residents, rural places that would require a relatively small number of megawatts of community wind and/or solar plus storage to provide 100% of their energy needs.

ALSO IN THE NEWS

U.S. GOVERNMENT’S FISCAL YEAR 2023 BUDGET

Statement by President Joe Biden on the FY 2023 Budget, The White House Briefing Room

Budgets are statements of values, and the budget I am releasing today sends a clear message that we value fiscal responsibility, safety and security at home and around the world, and the investments needed to continue our equitable growth and build a better America.  

My Administration is on track to reduce the federal deficit by more than $1.3 trillion this year, cutting in half the deficit from the last year of the previous Administration and delivering the largest one-year reduction in the deficit in U.S. history. That’s the direct result of my Administration’s strategy to get the pandemic under control and grow the economy from the bottom up and the middle out. 

NFS Note: The U.S. federal government’s fiscal year is from October 1 to September 30.

Related 

Also From The White House Briefing Room

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY NEWS RELEASES

Midwest Communities
Duluth, Minnesota
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Highland Park, Michigan
Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska
Jackson County, Illinois
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Pembroke Township and Hopkins Park, Illinois

DOE leverages new and existing authorities to spur transmission development key to energy transition

By Ethan Howland, Senior Reporter, Utility Dive

The Department of Energy has developed a plan for reducing barriers to high-voltage transmission projects that includes public-private partnerships, permitting and planning support, and about $20 billion in financing. The move comes as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, another key player in the transmission arena, is preparing to propose changes to its rules for transmission planning, determining who pays for the infrastucture and connecting power facilities to the grid. Continue reading here.

Department of Energy News Release: DOE Launches New Initiative From President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law To Modernize National Grid

MORE INDUSTRY NEWS

Previously Posted

NFS Note: SB 1024 is working its way through the Florida Legislature’s Regulated Industries committee.

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READING

The Myth of the Solar “Cost Shift” and the True Value of Solar (PDF), Solar United Neighbors

Monopoly electric utilities are waging a well-documented campaign against rooftop solar. They see it as a threat to their outmoded business model of selling more and more electricity in order to increase their profits. They are lobbying across the country to make it more expensive and difficult for people to go solar. The utilities’ primary claim is that non-solar customers are subsidizing solar owners. They describe this using the terms “cost-shift” or “cross-subsidization.” Their logic goes like this:

The Value of a Solar Job

By Abigail Ross Hopper, President & CEO,
Solar Energy Industries Association

As leaders in the solar energy industry, we know that every solar panel we install brings us one step closer to stopping the worst effects of the climate crisis. However, in order to meet this moment, the solar sector needs a strong, diverse and talented workforce to power our clean energy future. Because our employees are the backbone of our industry, we are committed to creating high quality, well-paying, stable jobs that families can count on.

Solar jobs are valuable, family-supporting careers that offer healthcare, retirement benefits, and the opportunity for rapid growth and development. These jobs tend to pay more than similar occupations in other energy industries and the economy as a whole, an important consideration when Americans across the country are looking for something better. Continue reading here.

Nebraska Job Opportunities

  • Solar Energy Jobs
  • An additional search strategy is to check for jobs listings on the websites of solar and wind energy companies that have installed renewable energy projects in Nebraska.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Resources

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READING

Climate versus jobs? Not in this heartland state.

By Stephanie Hanes, Christian Science Monitor

For five generations, Andrew Bowman’s family has worked the land in Oneida, population 700-ish – a flat and fertile swath of Illinois his father always said was good for growing crops and kids. Today, he farms soybeans and corn, as well as specialty popcorn, which he sells under the label Pilot Knob Comforts. Mr. Bowman hopes to have a new resource to harvest soon, as well: wind.

This past year, Mr. Bowman took a lead representing local landowners in negotiating with Orion Renewable Energy Group, one of the many companies installing wind farms across Illinois, to build a new 100-turbine project in his part of Knox County. Clean energy would not only help keep the local school open and support the fire department and library, he says, but would also offer a new income stream to farmers who agree to lease some of their land for the project – some $30 million over 25 years, according to the proposal. Continue reading here.

Photo by Orion Renewable Energy Group

CLIMATE ACTION TOOLS FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

Local Governments Can Use Their Power to Combat Climate Change, Bloomberg Law


Cities are nimbler than Congress and more capable of implementing climate policy through local laws and policy initiatives, says Jillian Blanchard, director of the climate change program at Lawyers for Good Government. She lays out some of the tools local governments can use to shift to renewable energy and the legal considerations.

 

WYOMING

It’s past time to prepare for coal country’s future, contributed opinion by Bob LeResche, Casper Star Tribune

Believe what you will about climate change or a “war on coal,” the simple fact is coal is no longer cost competitive with renewable energy or natural gas. Coal will keep losing market share, more coal power plants will close, and those that are left will burn less coal.

Bob LeResche is a former Commissioner of Natural Resources of Alaska, energy executive and investment banker. He and his wife Carol own a ranch and heirloom vegetable farm near Clearmont, Wyoming. He is a board member of the Powder River Basin Resource Council and the Western Organization of Resource Councils.

XCEL’S RECORD-LOW-PRICE PROCUREMENT

Xcel’s record-low-price procurement highlights benefits of all-source competitive solicitations, Utility Dive

Xcel’s [all-source competitive solicitation] returned a $0.017/kWh bid for wind, a $0.023/kWh bid for solar, and a $0.03/kWh bid for solar-plus-storage, according to a February 2021 Xcel presentation to Michigan regulators. These prices, compared to Colorado’s average January 2021 residential electricity price of $0.126/kWh, have other utilities asking how they can use this procurement approach.

NEWS FROM OTHER STATES

SOLAR ON FORMER COAL MINEFIELDS

Former coal mine land to be transformed into solar energy sites in Wise County


WISE COUNTY, Va. (WJHL) – Collaborating groups in Southwest Virginia plan to repurpose land previously used for coal mining and convert it into sites for solar development. Five different sites in Wise County are designated to become utility-scale solar farms over the next few years. The project was initiated by the Nature Conservancy, a global environmental organization that has had a conservation program in Southwest Virginia since the early 1990s. Image Credit: Sun Tribe

Additional information on land use and utility-scale solar is available here: 

NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL

Five Wins for Clean Energy Innovation in Biden’s Budget, by Arjun Krishnaswami &  Sasha Stashwick

The Biden administration’s 2022 budget released on Friday includes major funding increases for important Department of Energy (DOE) programs to drive clean energy innovation, address the climate crisis, and build a strong and equitable economy. These funding increases complement the investments proposed in the President’s American Jobs Plan (AJP). Now it’s up to Congress to pass AJP and write a government funding bill that reflects the President’s proposals. 

RECYCLING WIND TURBINE BLADES

World’s largest offshore wind farm developer to recover, reuse or recycle turbine blades, CNBC

Denmark’s Orsted said Thursday it would “reuse, recycle, or recover” all turbine blades in its worldwide portfolio of wind farms once they’re decommissioned.  


Ørsted In Nebraska – Previously Posted