Tag Archives: Invenergy

Commentary: Electric vehicles are finally ready for rural drivers

Contributed by Joyce Bodoh, director of energy solutions and clean energy
at Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, Energy News Network

EVs available today can go as far as 400 miles on a single charge — welcome news to drivers with longer than average commute of 30 miles a day. New all-electric models hitting the market include pick-up trucks, EVs that seat up to seven passengers, and plug-in hybrid minivans. EVs are not just available in the new car market, either. The used car EV market that is expanding as well and available at a variety of price points.

As the director of energy solutions and clean energy at Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (“REC”), I support electric transportation efforts for the cooperative and promote the benefits of EVs to our member-owners. REC is an electric cooperative that provides electricity to 170,000 member-owners across Virginia. Read more here.

Image Credit: Inside EVs

NATIONAL DRIVE ELECTRIC WEEK 2021

September 25 – October 3

National Drive Electric Week is a nationwide celebration to raise awareness of the many benefits of all-electric and plug-in hybrid cars, trucks, motorcycles, and more. Learn more here.

LINKS TO RESOURCES

FACT SHEET: The American Jobs Plan Supercharges the Future of Transportation and Manufacturing, The White House Briefing Room

MORE ON U.S. INFRASTRUCTURE 

While far from the panacea that would be required to address increasingly critical infrastructure challenges, the [Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act] — in its latest form — allocates over $70 billion for modernizing the nation’s electricity grid so that it can carry more renewable energy, marking the single largest federal investment in power transmission in history. With grid resiliency in the spotlight after events like this year’s power crisis, the spotlight remains on utilities and energy providers to prudently invest the federal injection to ensure that an event of this caliber (or worse) never happens again.

GRAIN BELT EXPRESS

New Illinois law could move Grain Belt Express forward, Missouri Times
The project would bring $1 billion in infrastructure investment to Illinois and create 1,200 jobs across three years of construction, according to Invenergy. It would develop an overhead and direct transmission line of approximately 780 miles delivering wind energy from western Kansas to utilities and consumers in Missouri and other states, according to its website.

NPPD’S R-PROJECT 

Click “Project Status” at the link, below, then scroll down to watch a brief video.

Project Status

MINNESOTA VIRTUAL POWER PLANT PILOT PROJECT

Minneapolis battery pilot will test vision for sharing solar power with neighbors, Energy News Network. Four batteries are being installed at a North Minneapolis green jobs training center in one of the country’s first “virtual power plant” pilot projects. Each battery will simulate a household buying and selling power with neighbors.

GLOBAL ROOFTOP SOLAR MARKET

Rooftop solar remains untapped yet crucial for energy transition – BNEF

Apex announces Jayhawk Wind sale to power Facebook facility in Nebraska

By Jonathan Riley, The Morning Sun

PITTSBURG, Kan. — Apex Clean Energy announced Monday that it has sold the Jayhawk Wind project in northwest Crawford and southwest Bourbon counties to two other power companies, WEC Energy Group and Invenergy, along with a renewable power purchase agreement with Facebook. “Jayhawk Wind will help Facebook meet its goal to support its operations in the region with 100% renewable energy and reach net-zero carbon emissions,” Apex said in a press release. Read more here.

Facebook’s Climate Commitment

Climate change is one of the most urgent issues facing our world today. We’re working to minimize our energy, emissions and water impact, protect workers and the environment in our supply chain, and partner with others to develop and share science-driven solutions.

We’ve launched the Climate Science Information Center to connect our community with factual resources from the world’s leading climate organizations and experts, as well as show people how they can reduce their own environmental impact. Through these efforts, we hope to drive more awareness around this issue and spur climate action.

Learn about Our Climate Commitment.

Verizon adds six PPAs for 845MW solar capacity

By Edith Hancock, PV Tech

Major telecoms provider Verizon has secured power purchase agreements (PPAs) for 845MW of solar electricity with four energy giants in the US. The PPAs with Lightsource BP, Invenergy, EDF Renewables and NextEra Energy Resources will be used to finance six solar projects which are due to be completed over the next two years. Read more here.

MORE CORPORATE RENEWABLE ENERGY PROCUREMENT NEWS 

Largest Solar Project in US Underway in Texas, Earth911
Who will purchase the energy? Corporations have already signed virtual Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for Samson’s solar electricity. “The Samson Solar Energy Center is the latest example of what can be achieved when companies and utilities seek an innovative partner to meet their sustainability goals and invest in a clean energy future,” said Ted Romaine, senior vice president of origination at Invenergy.

Leading U.S. Energy Buyers Support National Unity – On Clean Power, That Is, Triple Pundit
Despite a decades-long disinformation campaign by fossil stakeholders and their allies,  the latest data from Yale University’s program on Climate Change Communication reveal a strong majority consensus on climate change and climate science, highlighted by 86 percent support for funding that supports clean power research. There is no question that business leaders are on firm ground in the area of clean power.

ENERGY STORAGE

Beyond Declining Battery Prices: Six Ways to Evaluate Energy Storage in 2021, Greentech Media
Contributed article by Aaroh Kharaya, “product manager for energy storage at Clean Energy Associates (CEA). He is a licensed Professional Engineer with nine years of experience in electrical power systems and is also a subject matter expert in battery energy storage systems.”

GREEN HYDROGEN


Nel to slash cost of electrolysers by 75%, with green hydrogen at same price as fossil H2 by 2025, Recharge

Manufacturer is building a new fully automated electrolyser factory in Norway, which will be expanded to 2GW, resulting in huge economies of scale.

Green hydrogen cost reduction, International Renewable Energy Agency
This report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) outlines strategies to reduce electrolyser costs through continuous innovation, performance improvements and upscaling from megawatt (MW) to multi-gigawatt (GW) levels.

Canada is set to have one of the world’s biggest green hydrogen plants, CNBC
A major green hydrogen project in Canada took another step forward with an engineering contract awarded to a subsidiary of German industrial giant Thyssenkrupp. Canada could eventually be home to a number of green hydrogen facilities. Macquarie’s Green Investment Group, for example, is part of a consortium looking to develop another major plant that would be located in British Columbia, in the west of the country. Over the last few years, major firms including Repsol, Siemens Energy, Orsted and BP have gotten involved in projects connected to green hydrogen production.

BUILDING A GREEN ECONOMY & CLIMATE RESILIENCE


Carbon Markets for Farmers

Previously Posted Indianapolis Star articles by Sarah Bowman and London Gibson

  • There is a lot of money on the table with carbon markets. But farmers are skeptical.
    As more greenhouse gases enter the atmosphere and more companies pledge to go carbon neutral, interest in creating a market for carbon capture through agriculture is growing. Agriculture is now being seen by many as an untapped resource, and carbon markets the way to tap it.  “I think the potential is boundless, really,” said Mobley of The Nature Conservancy. “If it can work in Indiana, it can work anywhere in the country — politically, programmatically, with on-the-ground implementation, all of it.”
  • 5 things you need to know about what Biden’s plan for a carbon market means for farmers
    The incoming administration is proposing to create a carbon bank at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which would buy credits from farmers and then sell them to corporations for offsets. Several other private carbon market programs have popped up, both from companies and non-profit organizations that are developing their own platforms. 

GTM’S ENERGY GANG PODCAST

 

This week on The Energy Gang: What to make of Biden’s historic, sweeping actions on climate and clean energy?

 

Ørsted completes Willow Creek Wind Farm and takes final investment decision on Western Trail Wind Energy

Ørsted News Release

Willow Creek Wind is a 103MW project located in Butte County, South Dakota. As the second Ørsted project in SPP (Southwest Power Pool) territory, it further diversifies the operational portfolio into a market which will play an important part of Ørsted’s growth in North America. BHE Renewables, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company, provided tax equity for Willow Creek as part of a portfolio with the 230MW Plum Creek project in Nebraska, which was commissioned in June this year. Read more here.

Photo Credit: Ørsted

Orsted on the road at 367MW Western Trail, reNEWS.Biz
With the completion of Willow Creek and addition of Western Trail Wind, Orsted’s onshore business now has 2.7GW in operation and under construction.

Previously Posted

NEW ENERGY BLUE

2 million tons of CO2 saved every year by converting ag waste to auto fuel, New Energy Blue News Release, PR Newswire

The company’s first five Midwestern sites are surrounded by abundant harvest residues to feed the refineries. Farmers’ corn stalks and grain straws will be converted into nearly 180,000,000 gallons of 2G ethanol annually; operating energy and process water come from the biomass itself. All sites have rail access to North America’s low-carbon fuel markets. New Energy Blue was forged by a decade of work and $250 million, invested by Ørsted, now the Danish world leader in wind energy, to prove Inbicon biomass conversion technology at commercial scale. “Our team transformed Inbicon technology into a profitable, sustainable business model ready to build-out today,” says [Thomas Corle, CEO of New Energy Blue].

“LIGHT UP NAVAJO” PROJECT PARTNERSHIP

APPA wins national award for electrifying homes in the Navajo Nation, American Public Power Association

The American Public Power Association has earned an American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) “Power of A Summit Award” for the Light Up Navajo project, a partnership with the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA), which connected hundreds of Navajo households to the electric grid for the first time.

INDIANA’S POWER UP SOLAR & JOBS PROGRAM

Q&A: NAACP climate justice organizer on ‘black to green’ employment pipeline, Energy News Network
In an interview with the Energy News Network, Denise Abdul-Rahman, a climate justice organizer for the NAACP, explained how smart grid technology and clean energy jobs training fit within the mission of the Evansville NAACP by providing opportunities for local residents.

PUBLISHED BY FORBES

LINCOLN ELECTRIC SYSTEM NEWS RELEASE

LES gives EV update for Drive Electric Week
Drive Electric Week, Sept. 26 – Oct. 4, is an annual event to highlight the climate, clean air and cost savings benefits provided by electric vehicles. Beginning in 2011, this year marks the national event’s 10th Anniversary. It has grown from celebrations in 29 cities across the country in 2011 to over 300 individual events in 2019.

EV MAINTENANCE & REPAIR COSTS

It’s Official — Consumer Reports Confirms EV Owners Spend Half As Much On Maintenance, CleanTechnica

Data is king, and when it comes to information on the frequency of repairs on automobiles, Consumer Reports has more data than anyone. For its latest report, it did a deep dive into the data from its 2019 and 2020 reliability surveys of electric and gasoline powered vehicles. After crunching all the numbers, Consumer Reports says “drivers of electric vehicles are saving an average of 50% on maintenance and repair over the life of a vehicle compared to owners of gas-powered vehicles.”

EIA’S ELECTRIC POWER MONTHLY REPORT

Solar and wind generation continue to expand rapidly while coal is in a tailspin, PV Magazine
The Energy Information Administration’s most recent Electric Power Monthly report shows that solar has accounted for nearly 3.4% of the country’s generation so far in 2020, with wind being responsible for another 8.5%. Meanwhile, coal has plummeted to just 17.8% of the nation’s total, down nearly 30% from just last year.

GRAIN BELT EXPRESS TRANSMISSION LINE

Gov. Laura Kelly announces nearly 1,000 permanent jobs, $8 billion of total investment to Kansas, High Plains Journal

Gov. Laura Kelly joined Kansas Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary for Business Development Bill Murphy and Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for Invenergy Kris Zadlo on Sept. 30 to announce Invenergy’s new Grain Belt Express transmission line. Grain Belt Express is an approximately 800-mile high voltage direct current transmission line being developed by Invenergy Transmission. It will deliver up to 4,000 megawatts of low-cost, homegrown clean energy from western Kansas to millions of Americans in the Midwest and other regions. Learn more at: www.grainbeltexpress.com

Capital Dynamics Enters into New Strategic Relationship with Tenaska

Capital Dynamics & Tenaska News Release, PRNewswire 

Capital Dynamics, an independent global private asset management firm, today announced that its Clean Energy Infrastructure business has signed an agreement with Tenaska to enter into a new strategic relationship, increasing its greenfield solar footprint in both the Midwest and Southeast United States.

The transaction comprises 24 solar projects located in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and Southeast Reliability Council (SERC) markets, totaling 4,800 megawatts (MW). The portfolio represents a large share of solar projects currently in the MISO and SERC interconnection pipelines and further diversifies Capital Dynamics’ growing utility-scale solar power portfolio across seven new states. Read more here.

Additional Recommended Reading
Capital Dynamics and Tenaska Partner on 4.8 Gigawatts of Solar Development, Greentech Media. For Tenaska, the 4.8-gigawatt deal follows another large-scale sale to Spain’s Acciona last year, with Acciona buying 3 gigawatts of solar and 1 gigawatt of solar-plus-storage from Tenaska in the U.S.

MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY 

COMMUNITY SOLAR

Why Associated plugged in to community solar energy, American Banker
Associated Banc-Corp. in Green Bay, Wis., recently subscribed to five solar gardens currently in development across Minnesota and Illinois. The subscription doesn’t cost the company anything, and its commitment to using a certain proportion of the energy produced is expected to slash about 20%, or $57,000, off its annual electricity bill.

SOLID-STATE BATTERIES

Investors Still Betting on Next Big Energy Storage Technology: Solid-State Batteries, Greentech Media. Solid-state batteries could be safer and more energy-dense than lithium-ion products are today. The improved technology could hit the market by the mid-2020s, analysts say. Companies including Ionic Materials, QuantumScape, Sila Nanotechnologies, Sion Power and Solid Power are developing all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) that are expected to be safer and more energy-dense than the lithium-ion products used in today’s electric vehicles and battery systems. “Lithium-ion today, with a metal-oxide cathode and carbon-based anode, is starting to approach its theoretical limits,” said Solid Power CEO Doug Campbell in an interview.

NEW U.S. CHARGING STATION MANUFACTURER

Dutch charging station company looks to plug in to U.S. electric vehicle growth, by Audrey Henderson, Energy News Network. EVBox manufactures charging stations and the software to manage them. The company is expanding its presence in the U.S. to take advantage of a growing electric vehicle market. Electric transportation advocates note the move is particularly timely given recent advancement of electric vehicle policy in Illinois.

CLEAN ENERGY CAREERS

  • What’s It Like to Be a Renewable Energy Project Developer?, Greentech Media
    We’re asking people with cleantech jobs to tell us what they do all day. Next up: K. Harley McDonald, senior business developer at Avangrid Renewables.
  • An Anxious Accountant’s Journey to the Top, Greentech Media
    In this special podcast, we discuss how one finance expert overcame his anxieties and flourished in renewable energy. Today, he leads CohnReznick’s renewable energy industry practice and helps utilities and other energy companies execute all kinds of transactions, from long-term contracts to hedging strategies to tax structures.

TESLA  

Tesla Solar Panels and Roof: Pricing and how to buy, by Fred Lambert, Electrek

Tesla solar roof tiles are not available in as many markets as Tesla’s solar panels. The company is still hiring and training roofers in many markets and it is expanding fast. Tesla’s regular solar panel installations are more easily available.

Tesla’s website:
“We are hiring roofers, installers and electricians who will work together to deploy Solar Roof in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Virginia.”

MORE CORPORATE NEWS

NEW CERES REPORT

Coal retirements spur 8% drop in 2019 power sector carbon pollution after Duke, Vistra top 2018 emitters: Ceres, by Catherine Morehouse, Utility Dive. Progress in 2019 is a cause for optimism, report author and Senior Director of Electric Power at Ceres, Dan Bakal, told Utility Dive, though the sector will need to move even faster in order to offset the worst impacts of climate change.

About Ceres
Ceres is a sustainability nonprofit organization working with the most influential investors and companies to build leadership and drive solutions throughout the economy. Through powerful networks and advocacy, Ceres tackles the world’s biggest sustainability challenges, including climate change, water scarcity and pollution, and inequitable workplaces. Mission: Ceres is transforming the economy to build a sustainable future for people and the planet.
Resources include: Proxy Voting Guidebook 2020

Ceres Initiatives

MORE ON RECENTLY-RELEASED ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS’ REPORT 

How to replace 187 GW of coal with renewables, and save customers money, by William Driscoll, PV Magazine. Promptly retiring 79% of the nation’s 236 GW of coal units, and replacing them with renewables and storage, would yield savings of $10 billion per year, says a report from the Rocky Mountain Institute, Carbon Tracker and Sierra Club. Retiring all of them now, including units that are not yet uneconomic, would still save $9 billion per year. The authors recommend federal involvement in financing this transition, and using the savings not only to lower customers’ electric bills but to fund transition assistance for affected workers and communities.

NEWS FROM CANADA

Massive 340,000-panel solar farm to take flight at Edmonton International Airport, Edmonton Journal. A massive renewable energy project roughly the size of 313 CFL football fields could be arriving in Edmonton by the end of 2022. Edmonton International Airport announced Tuesday plans to build a 627-acre, 120-megawatt solar farm — enough energy to power 27,000 or 28,000 homes — on the west side of its lands as part of an agreement with European-based renewable energy company Alpin Sun. Solar power from the farm would feed into Fortis Alberta and the airport.

Commentary: With battery technology ready, regulatory framework must catch up

By Rafael Esteban, CEO of Acciona’s energy division in the
United States and Canada, Energy News Network

The energy sector sits on the cusp of a truly transformative change: Utility-scale ready battery storage technology has arrived. As is with the case with many disruptive technologies, before reaping the benefits of energy storage — which are many — we need modernization of the regulatory framework. This work is well underway. In 2018, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued Order 841, requiring regional energy agencies to adopt rules for energy storage.

According to the order, rules must allow energy storage to participate in the wholesale, retail and capacity markets. Then came FERC order 845, which asked for interconnection standards and clarity on how storage would participate in capacity markets. Across the nation, regional transmission organizations and independent system operators are developing plans to come into compliance with this order. Interestingly, the pitched battles at FERC around policies for fossil fuels and renewable energy have been absent from discussions about storage. Read more here.

Previously Posted 

  • ACCIONA acquires 3,000 MW in photovoltaic projects being developed in the USA, Acciona News Release, October 21, 2019. ACCIONA today announced the signature of an agreement with the [Nebraska-based] company Tenaska to acquire a portfolio of photovoltaic projects in seven states across the country.
  • ACCIONA buys solar + storage on a national scale, PV Magazine
    The Spanish company has purchased 3 GW of solar projects and 1 GW of solar + storage from developer Tenaska, with all of the projects concentrated in non-traditional solar markets.
  • The Midwest’s solar future will be unlike anything seen before, PV Magazine
    Fitch Solutions Marco Research has boldly predicted the region will be a main driver towards the 100 GW of solar power capacity expected to hit the U.S. over the next 10 years. The procurement will be led by city and utility commitments to renewable energy, the falling costs of solar and the continued expansion of popular community solar programs.

Acciona & Tenaska Job Opportunities

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READING

GREEN CAMPUSES

These Pa. colleges are going all in on renewable energy — with a little help from a Texas solar farm, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Four Pennsylvania schools have teamed up to support a Texas solar farm that will supply them with “virtual” renewable energy, joining a trend among institutions of higher education to address climate change. Lehigh University, Lafayette College, Muhlenberg College and Dickinson College announced the partnership Monday to collectively purchase solar power. They signed a virtual power-purchase agreement to support production from a 45.9-megawatt share of a new 200-acre solar farm that will be built at an undisclosed location [in] Texas. The schools announced the agreement at Second Nature’s 2020 Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit in Atlanta.

NEW INITIATIVE ADDRESSES CLIMATE CHANGE

Inside Bill Weihl’s quest to give employees and job seekers a ‘ClimateVoice’, by Joel Makower, Chairman & Executive Editor, GreenBiz Group

ClimateVoice, launched this weekend at the ClimateCAP conference in Charlottesville, Virginia, is the brainchild of Bill Weihl, who led Facebook’s sustainability team until leaving the company in 2018. Prior to that, he served as Google’s “energy czar” during the early days of that company’s ambitious clean-energy push. Weihl’s new initiative is aimed at activating college students and rank-and-file employees to persuade their current or would-be employers to take a public stand on federal, state and local initiatives that address the climate crisis.

NEW ENVIRONMENT AMERICA REPORT

New report provides roadmap to achieve carbon-free transportation, Environment America News Release

A new report from Environment America Research & Policy Center and Frontier Group describes how we can build a zero-carbon transportation future – all while cleaning our air and creating safer, healthier communities. Entitled Destination: Zero Carbon: Three strategies to transform transportation in America, the report looks at the factors underlying high transportation emissions, and proposes new policy solutions. Americans drive more than 10,000 miles a year on average, often in inefficient gas-burning vehicles. Poor public transit and unsafe conditions for walking or biking leave many Americans with few good low-carbon transportation options.

EV NEWS

Inside Clean Energy: Tesla Gets Ever So Close to 400 Miles of Range, Inside Climate News
The increased range is a step toward bringing EVs—and their contribution to combating climate change—into the mainstream.

LES funds $1.75 mil in incentives for efficiency upgrades

By Peter Maloney, American Public Power Association

Lincoln Electric System (LES) in Nebraska is continuing its Sustainable Energy Program with $1.75 million in incentive funds for customers that want to switch to more energy efficient equipment. LES says that since it began its Sustainable Energy Program (SEP) in 2009, customers have accessed $22.5 million in incentives and spent $126.6 million on energy-efficient equipment and/or services. The incentive level for the SEP program in 2019 was $1.5 million. “It is the eleventh year of the program,” and the utility’s board is “solidly behind it,” and there is no sign of that waning, Marc Shkolnick, LES’ manager of energy services, said. “They see it as a fitting role for a public power provider.” Continue reading here.

Nebraska Also In The News Here

Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, Inc. Announces Wind Construction Project Award in Nebraska

Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives Press Release, Globe Newswire

The award is for construction of the Thunderhead Wind Project in Antelope and Wheeler counties in Nebraska. The project will consist of 108 GE turbines with 300 megawatts of capacity. The power will be delivered into the Nebraska electrical grid. Work on the project began in November with completion scheduled for September 2020. The scope of IEA’s work includes construction of project access roads and turbine foundations, as well as erection of the turbines. Read more here.

Previously Posted: AT&T set to buy power output from new northeast Nebraska wind farm, News Channel Nebraska

Photo Credit: Invenergy

MORE CORPORATE NEWS

RE100 UPDATE: 216 RE100 companies have made a commitment to go ‘100% renewable’. Read about the actions they are taking and why.

RE100 ANNUAL REPORT

 

 

Going 100% renewable: how committed companies are demanding a faster market response

 


ENERGY STORAGE NEWS

NEW PV MAGAZINE US SENIOR EDITOR: PV Magazine announces veteran industry journalist, Eric Wesoff, as US senior editor

TIME-OF-USE RATES: Survey: Customer education needed for time-of-use rates to be successful, Energy News Network

SOLAR SCHOOLS: Editorial: PPAs offer a financial bright side for our schools, Richmond.com

CIRCULAR ECONOMY: The circular economy can be a holistic approach to addressing climate change, GreenBiz

NATIONAL CLIMATE BANK ACT: National Climate Bank initiative could be a boon for solar, PV Magazine. A companion bill to the National Climate Bank Act is expected to be introduced in the House, which could provide a huge boon to the solar and the solar plus storage markets.

CLIMATE RISKS

SEIA NEWS RELEASE

Study: Solar Tariffs Cause Devastating Harm to U.S. Market, Economy and Jobs
Tariffs on imported solar cells and modules have led to the loss of more than 62,000 U.S. jobs and $19 billion in new private sector investment, according to a market impact analysis released today by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

Demand from first-time, repeat buyers powers new era of large-scale renewables growth

By Monica Jaburg, Deputy Director, Communications and Media,
Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance. Published by GreenBiz.

Large-scale energy buyers are driving the energy landscape shift by collectively voicing their demand for accessible clean energy options to decrease their carbon impacts. In 2018 alone, the group accounted for 6.3 gigawatts in announced renewable energy deals — an amount equal to over 60 percent of all new renewables generation added in the United States last year.

However, the U.S. commercial and industrial sector is still the most energy-intensive, accounting for about 50 percent of all power consumption and 34 percent of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. So what’s next for this community when it comes to advance its clean energy and GHG emissions reduction mandates? Read more here.

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READING

TRI-STATE NEWS

IN NEBRASKA

  • Excelsior to buy 109 MW of Nebraska wind capacity from Invenergy, Renewables Now
    Prairie Breeze II and Prairie Breeze III initiated operations in late 2015 and early 2016, respectively. They have 25-year power purchase agreements (PPA) in place with Lincoln Electric System and City of Grand Island. The transaction is seen to be completed next month. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is the tax equity investor in the projects, the announcement says.
  • Wind costs’ decline aids rural Nebraska, Letter to the Editor, Lincoln Journal Star, by Cody Smith, Ames, Iowa Policy associate, Center for Rural Affairs

OF POTENTIAL INTEREST TO NEBRASKA SOLAR BUSINESSES

Solar Jobs Census: The Solar Foundation is again collecting data for their annual National Solar Jobs Census. This confidential survey will take fifteen minutes of your time and will provide essential feedback to ensure that your company’s contributions to our economy are well
understood by policymakers and the general public. Deadline: November 15, 2019.
Complete the survey here.

LEGISLATION

  • SEIA garners industry support and lobbies for ITC extension, Solar Power World
    Solar contractors are on a time crunch to fit as many installations into 2019 as they can, because in 2020 the solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) starts to lose its effectiveness. The ITC is a federal tax subsidy that, in its current capacity, gives solar system owners a 30% return on a solar project’s total tax liability in any market segment. In 2020 the ITC is slated to drop to 26%, 22% in 2021 and in 2022 it will decrease to a 10% subsidy for commercial and utility markets, and zero for residential, indefinitely. That is, unless, the renewables subsidy receives another extension. SEIA’s Campaign: Defend the Solar ITC
  • Legislation aims to accelerate geothermal energy development, American Public Power Association

EV NEWS

GM sells shuttered Ohio plant to EV truck start-up, Reuters

INSIDE CLIMATE NEWS – EXXON TRIAL

Exxon’s Climate Fraud Trial Nears Its End: What Does the State Have to Prove to Win?
With only days left before the two sides deliver their closing arguments, here’s a look at what the attorney general needs to prove and how Exxon is fighting the claims.

See Also

Previously Posted

Yale University Survey: Yale Poll Finds Majority of Americans Think ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron and Other Fossil Fuel Companies Should Pay for Climate Change Damage, Union of Concerned Scientists Blog. A new survey by Yale University’s Program on Climate Change Communications and supported by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) finds that most Americans (57 percent) think fossil fuel companies should pay for the damages caused by global warming.

Interactive Map – Click link and scroll down: This tool maps variations in Americans’ opinions about existing or potential lawsuits against fossil fuel companies.

Nebraska Data

  • A search by state shows that 50% of Nebraskans surveyed hold fossil fuel companies responsible for the local damage of global warming.
  • Several searches by county show the following results:

Cherry County: 58%
Colfax County: 56%
Dawes County: 57%
Douglas County: 56%
Lancaster County: 55%
Thurston County: 61%

AT&T strikes 300-MW wind VPPA in Nebraska

Renewables Now

Chicago-based renewables developer Invenergy said today it has inked a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with telecom giant AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) for the output of a 300-MW wind farm in Nebraska. Read more here.

Photo Credit: Invenergy

Previously Posted: WEC Energy Group spending $338 million on Nebraska wind farm: A Fortune 100 company has 100% offtake agreement for project, BizTimes – Milwaukee Business News

Invenergy Projects In Operation In Nebraska

News Release: Invenergy Announces Start of Commercial Operations of Upstream Wind Energy Center
CHICAGO (Jan.17, 2019) – Invenergy, a leading privately-held global developer and operator of sustainable energy solutions, announced the completion of construction and the start of commercial operations of the 200-megawatt Upstream Wind Energy Center in Antelope County, Nebraska. Located just north of the City of Neligh, Upstream was developed and constructed by Invenergy and will generate enough electricity to power 68,000 American homes.

  • 35.8 MW Prairie Breeze III Wind Energy Center in Antelope County southeast of Elgin. 20 turbines. Commercial Operation Date: 2015
  • 73.4 MW Prairie Breeze II Wind Energy Center in northeastern Nebraska in Antelope and Boone Counties. 41 turbines. Commercial Operation Date: 2015
  • 200 MW Prairie Breeze I in Antelope, Boone and Madison Counties. 118 turbines. Commercial Operation Date: 2014
    Source: Wind Energy Generation in Nebraska, Nebraska Department of Environment & Energy

MORE NEBRASKA NEWS

N-CORPE hears wind and solar proposal, KNOPNews2
‘Invenergy” is the name of the company proposing ideas to N-CORPE. Senior Manager Julia Kimmerly and Analyst Jack Colelli of the Denver office said Invenergy has 146 projects, over 1000 employees, produces 22,000 megawatts of power, and has offices in Denver and Chicago.