In the news today…
Grid:
- Utility Dive reports that FERC gives PJM flexibility for handling member defaults as Winter Storm Elliott complaints pile up. At least six complaints are pending at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from generators that are seeking to avoid penalties for failing to run during the late-December freeze.
Coal:
- Bloomberg reports that the United States, European Union and Japan are pushing back on the United Kingdom’s proposal to phase out unabated domestic coal power generation by 2030, according to draft communique documents seen by Bloomberg, setting up a fight between the Group of Seven nations ahead of a summit slated for this weekend in Japan. While France has backed the United Kingdom’s plan, Germany proposed alternative language for the phaseout deadline such as “ideally by 2030” or “in the 2030s,” illustrating concerns that European countries lack the technical ability to meet the deadline while the United States could face political backlash for backing a coal phaseout.
Minerals:
- E&E Greenwire reports the Biden administration is poised this week to release what’s slated to be one of its biggest climate rules to date aimed at boosting electric vehicles, a move that’s riling the auto sector and Capitol Hill and triggering widespread questions about the availability of critical minerals.
EPA:
- Inside EPA reports states and industry groups that otherwise differ over EPA’s plan to tighten fine particulate matter (PM2.5) standards are agreeing on the need for the agency to ease serious implementation challenges that would accompany tighter limits, especially over issues like wildfires that are most pronounced in California and other Western states.
World News:
- Reuters reports global export restrictions on critical materials have grown more than five-fold over the last decade, the OECD said on Tuesday, potentially impeding governments’ efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
- Bloomberg reports a sharp increase in export restrictions by countries including China and India on raw materials critical for green technologies has a potentially sizable impact on the global economy and could make climate goals harder to meet, research by the OECD shows.