TGIF!
In the news today…
Grid:
- Utility Dive reports that experts say buy-in from local officials and residents will be key to building out transmission infrastructure to support clean energy development.
- E&E Energywire reports severe weather pushed parts of the nation’s electric grid toward crisis conditions last year even though it operated more reliably overall, the federally appointed grid monitor reported Thursday.
- Politico Pro reports fossil fuel plants are less reliable than ever amid devastating and erratic weather patterns, according to a report released Thursday from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.
Minerals:
- Reuters reports that lithium producers are growing anxious that delays in mine permitting, staffing shortages and inflation may hinder their ability to supply enough of the battery metal to meet the world’s aggressive electrification timelines.
- The Associated Press reports that NASA opposes lithium mining at tabletop flat Nevada desert site used to calibrate satellites. Environmentalists, ranchers and others have fought for years against lithium mining ventures in Nevada. Yet opposition to mining one particular desert tract for the silvery white metal used in electric car batteries is coming from unusual quarters: space.
- E&E Daily and Politico Pro report the Senate on Thursday approved a tax treaty with Chile that supporters say will help U.S. companies invest in that country’s mineral wealth.
Coal:
- Argus Direct reports US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may reject Illinois-based utility Midwest Generation’s request to extend the deadline for closing an unlined coal ash pond at its Waukegan power plant.