October 2, 2024

Election Day is now just less than five weeks away (!), and talks have turned toward the fate of the Biden administration’s signature law in its effort to reduce U.S. emissions, the Inflation Reduction Act. K Kaufmann attended the National Clean Energy Week Policymakers Symposium in D.C., where several speakers warned that if former President Trump is re-elected, he would likely slow-walk the rollout of IRA funds — if the law isn’t outright repealed by a Republican Congress. K also watched a panel on hydrogen at the event that looked at the reluctance of developers and investors to move ahead as they wait for the Treasury Department’s final rule on the IRA’s 45V tax credit.

Another Biden administration policy — installing 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030 — is in doubt, as BOEM postponed its Oct. 15 auction in Oregon because of limited commercial interest, marking the second scratch out of the four auctions scheduled in 2024. 

John Cropley reported on that, as well as Eversource Energy finalizing the sale of its last two offshore wind assets —  South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind — to Global Infrastructure Partners. The 132-MW South Fork was the first utility-scale OSW farm in the U.S. to go into operation. 

And Jon Lamson was in Boston for NECA’s annual Fuels Conference, where speakers presented divergent visions of the role of natural gas in New England, which is still highly dependent on the fuel but where states have some of the most aggressive emission-reduction goals. 

Here’s what else we had this past week: 

• New Jersey BPU Approves Invenergy Offshore Wind Delay 

• Newsom Signs Bundle of Grid-related Bills from 2024 Session 

• Nvidia CEO Huang Explains What's Behind AI’s Energy Demand 

• Sierra Club Urges Big Customers to Push for Clean Energy to Meet Rising Demand 

• Transportation Companies Turn to Solar, Hybrid Refrigeration 

See you next week!