In the news today…
ACE Rule:
- Inside Sources reports that several businesses and utility groups are siding with EPA in a lawsuit to defend the ACE rule.
- E&E Energywire reports the multi-state challenge to the ACE rule this week highlighted key shifts in state views of federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.
Power Grid:
- Argus reports Texas’ main power grid operator issued an energy emergency for the second time this week.
- Bloomberg reports after the recent price surges in Texas, the state might need to invest in more traditional power plants.
- RTO Insider reports ERCOT declared an energy emergency alert Thursday afternoon, its second in three days after five years without calling one.
Coal:
- Politico Pro reports EPA held a hearing on Thursday on its proposed regulation formally reversing the so-called “once in, always in” policy.
- Mining.com reports prices for met coal, which has sustained miners as exports decline and power plants forsake the fuel, are down 22 percent since May as concerns about the global economy weigh on demand for steel.
- Argus reports Asian thermal coal markets are likely to remain oversupplied, potentially causing trouble for western U.S. exports.
- E&E Climatewire reports America’s largest emitters, such as the Navajo Generating Station, are closing in rapid succession.
- The Courier Journal reports Kentucky state lawmakers are sponsoring a bill to strengthen requirements for coal companies to hold bonds to cover a month of payroll.
Minerals:
- Mining Magazine reports Rio Tinto has led the first paperless trade deal of iron ore.
- Harrisburg Patriot-News carries an op-ed by Forrest Remick, emeritus nuclear engineering professor at Penn State and former member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, who argues that reliance on imported uranium is a national security threat.