TGIF!
In the news today…
Grid:
- Indiana Public Broadcasting reports that Indiana consumer advocates say Duke Energy and AES could have done more to prevent extended power outages caused by storms last week.
- Utility Dive reports that Pacific Gas & Electric, California’s largest investor-owned utility, has applied for an approximately $7 billion loan from the federal government to upgrade its electric grid. PG&E, which was pushed into bankruptcy in 2019 over billions of dollars in liabilities from wildfires caused by its power lines, plans to invest roughly $18 billion through 2025 to protect its infrastructure from the threat of fires, the utility said in a plan filed with regulators in March.
- Utility Dive reports that Republican Sens. John Barrasso, Wyo., and Shelley Moore Capito, W. Va., are asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to hold technical conferences to review how the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants could affect grid reliability.
Mining:
- E&E Greenwire reports the Biden administration is hoping to complete its first-ever expedited review and approval of a domestic mine and processing facility in southern Arizona as soon as 2026 — an accelerated timeline that’s raising concerns among local environmental groups worried about impacts on vulnerable and endangered species in the Patagonia Mountains.
Coal:
- Argus reports coal-fired generation in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) fell to a multi-year low for June as electric utilities continue to rely more on gas-fired generation this year.