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One thing we have learned at NetZero Insider is that the U.S. Department of Energy has few, if any, slow news days. Congress and state legislatures may be in recess; officials across federal, state and local agencies may be vacationing with their families ― as well they should ― but DOE always has reports to issue and funding to announce.
So, this week’s Policy and Impacts rundown begins with John Cropley’s coverage of DOE’s new report on the ever accelerating figures for clean energy employment, which in 2023 grew at twice the rate of the energy sector and the economy as a whole. Clean energy now accounts for 42% of all energy jobs, the report notes.
On the funding side, K Kaufmann reports on the $240 million from the Inflation Reduction Act that DOE awarded to 19 cities and states to develop and implement building performance standards that will help cut energy use and emissions from their existing commercial and multiunit residential buildings.
On the second anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, K also provided an in-depth analysis of the law’s implementation, with a series of interviews with industry leaders, looking at its achievements as well as the challenges it has and will continue to face.
The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission is making headlines with proposed rules to narrow the definition of which organizations would have official “standing” to participate in its proceedings. A coalition of stakeholders, from power generators to environmental groups, have protested, our New England correspondent Jon Lamson writes.
Cropley also reported on the opposition many utility-scale solar and wind projects face at the local level and the efforts of Advanced Energy United to promote the adoption of consistent principles for local siting and permitting that would provide more certainty and ban any moratoria.
Zooming out to the international level, our curated content begins with a Bloomberg report on Canadian banks that continue to make major investments in coal and oil projects despite their claimed commitments to limiting climate change to 1.5 degrees Celsius and cutting emissions to net zero by 2050.
Kentucky is seeking to slow the transition to clean energy ― and keep its coal and gas plants open ― with its Energy Planning and Inventory Commission, which the state’s Republican legislature passed over the veto of Gov. Andy Beshear (D), who has appointed two utility executives to the board, the Kentucky Lantern reports.
Environmental groups in Maine have taken the state to court over its lack of action on developing and implementing policies to cut its greenhouse gas emissions 45% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80% by 2050. According to Energy News Network, state attorneys have called for the suit to be dismissed, arguing the harms from climate change are too “uncertain.”
And a POWER Magazine podcast explores the potential differences in energy policies of presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, finding some common ground on nuclear and carbon capture but cautioning that a second Trump administration will be more prepared to hit the ground running on regulatory changes favoring fossil fuels.
There’s more news you can use in this week’s Intelligence Report:
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