In the news today and from the weekend…
Grid:
- Utility Dive reports that a private equity firm and a startup partner to build efficient transmission lines at no upfront cost; they’ll pay themselves back with cost savings of increasing transmission capacity while cutting line losses in half.
Coal:
- The New Yorker reports recent research suggests that we may be able to simultaneously clean up the pollution and extract the minerals and elements needed to power green technologies.
- Wall Street Journal reports coal used to keep utility rates low in West Virginia. More recently, it has caused them to rise faster than in most other states.
- Washington Examiner reports fossil fuel plants, long considered a more reliable source of power, could also be at risk as persistent drought and heat wreak havoc in the West, sending water levels at the Colorado River— which supplies water to seven states and the nation’s two largest reservoirs — plummeting to historic lows.
Mining:
- The Hill carries an op-ed which argues hundreds of new mines will be needed to decarbonize.
Electric Vehicles:
- CNBC reports rising material costs and criteria for new federal incentives further strain automakers as they ramp up electric vehicle manufacturing.