In the news today…
Grid:
- Business North reports that Minnesota Power files a nearly $1 billion plan to upgrade its transmission system that delivers wind power from North Dakota to customers in Minnesota.
- Canary Media reports that with transmission snubbed in the recent debt ceiling deal, grid experts say “minimum transfer capacity” requirements between the regional grids are key to getting more power lines built.
Coal:
- The Economist reports financiers are saving coal from extinction.
- Hellenic Shipping News reports total quarterly coal production across the United States has held relatively flat since late 2021, but average employment in the sector has grown steadily since the third quarter of 2021, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
- Argus reports coal exports out of Hampton Roads, Virginia, rose from year-earlier levels for a fourth straight month in April.
Minerals:
- Wall Street Journal reports to make batteries for EVs, companies need to mine and refine large amounts of nickel. The process of getting the mineral out of the ground and turning it into battery-ready substances, though, is particularly environmentally unfriendly.
Energy:
- Washington Examiner reports opponents of the Biden administration’s new power plant rule are expected to put the rule to the test on a few key legal grounds, including the “major questions” precedent established by West Virginia v. EPA, with which the Biden administration is confident the proposed rule complies.
Permitting:
- E&E Daily reports the debt ceiling deal included major revisions to National Environmental Policy Act reviews, but the changes are not enough to satisfy Republicans and industry groups on permitting.
- Politico Pro reports Congress spent weeks obsessing over the relatively modest changes to federal environmental reviews included in the debt ceiling deal. But a recent Supreme Court decision shrinking federal wetlands protections may have already given project developers one of their biggest wins in decades.