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☆ Biden and the Media Are Electric-Vehicle Grifters
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Holman W. Jenkins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Journal Editorial Report: Its tailpipe emission standards turn auto companies into public utilities. Images: AP/AFP/Getty Images Composite: Mark KellyWhen I pestered a senior Biden climate official a few months ago about the counterintuitive argument that green handouts won’t reduce fossil-fuel consumption, he surprised me by finishing my sentence. The only real solution is for governments “to put a price on carbon,” he said, and speculated Democrats and Republicans might break the ice with a carbon-related import tax. The point being, economic sanity exists everywhere except in the policies of the Biden administration and media coverage of them.

☆ US home solar installers brace for slowdown as California reform looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

California boasts 38% of the nation's residential solar capacity, buttressing the U.S. market's 40% surge in 2022, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association trade group. More than 1.5 million Golden State homes have solar, state data show. They and others have noted a spike in California installations this year as consumers scrambled to get systems connected before the policy change on April 15. California Solar & Storage Association Executive Director Bernadette Del Chiaro called the transition difficult. Residential solar installers are already grappling with higher interest rates that cut into the value of financed systems, and tighter available credit.

Investors may want to look somewhere other than tech for safety, according to Morgan Stanley's Mike Wilson. Tech is the best-performing sector this year, up more than 20% and outpacing the S & P 500 's 7% advance. Recently, tech stocks got a boost after bond yields fell amidst volatility in the banking sector. Morgan Stanley looked for defensive stocks to own in a bear market. His 2023 S & P 500 target of 3,900 is also the third-lowest in CNBC Pro's Market Strategist Survey.

☆ Nevada approves $333 million natural gas plant as historic drought pressures state's power grid
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Looking east to the Tracy Power Plant, a natural gas and oil-fired power plant owned and operated by Sierra Pacific Power, located near Interstate 80 and the Truckee River between Reno and Fernley, Nevada. Nevada's largest electricity provider has been approved for a $333 million project to develop a natural gas plant north of Las Vegas, as extreme drought conditions put mounting pressure on the region's power grid. Natural gas presents its own challenges. The state has committed to a carbon-free power grid by 2050 and hasn't built a new natural gas plant in over a decade. More than two-thirds of Nevada's electricity is produced by natural gas-fired power plants, while renewables comprise most of the rest, according to the state's energy report.

☆ Why Blackouts, Power Outages Are Becoming More Common
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Taylor Dorrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Power outages have increased 64% from the early 2000s, and weather-related outages — many driven by the worsening climate crisis — have increased 78%. A record-breaking blizzard in Buffalo, New York, this winter caused power outages throughout the city, resulting in the deaths of 47 residents. In 2021, a heat wave led to power outages and the deaths of hundreds in the Pacific Northwest. While regional organizations might use fees to penalize companies for power outages, it's now much harder to pinpoint and hold a person or entity responsible. In the meantime, the climate crisis will continue to wreak havoc on an aging grid system that puts profits over reliability.

☆ DeSantis' hand-picked Walt Disney World oversight board meets for the first time
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Dawn Chmielewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Octavio JonesMarch 8 (Reuters) - A new board controlling Walt Disney World's special taxing district in Florida will meet for the first time on Wednesday, as Governor Ron DeSantis' hand-picked group gets ready to end the entertainment giant's "corporate kingdom." Nothing in the language of the legislation creating the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District gives the board of supervisors authority to direct Walt Disney Co's (DIS.N) content. "The District board members are now in place and will be examining all of the needed actions to get back on track," Bryan Griffin, a spokesman for the governor, said on Tuesday. Legislators in Florida passed a bill in February giving DeSantis effective control over a board that oversees municipal services and development in a special district that encompasses Walt Disney World resort. “Shameful to see Disney continue to use children as pawns to advance their WOKE political agenda,” Ziegler tweeted.

☆ Justices ask government for input on Texas electric grid dispute
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Clark Mindock | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Miniatures of windmill, solar panel and electric pole are seen in front of NextEra Energy logo in this illustration taken January 17, 2023. Representatives for the U.S. Department of Justice, NextEra and Texas didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Monday. Circuit Court of Appeals in August said the state’s law likely violated the clause and sent the case back to a Texas federal court for further consideration. V. NextEra Energy Capital Holdings, U.S. Supreme Court, case No. For Texas: Judd Stone of the Texas Attorney General’s OfficeFor NextEra: Lino Mendiola of Eversheds Sutherland, Stuart Singer of Boies Schiller Flexner and Matthew Price of Jenner & Block

☆ A little-known renewable energy stock could rally more than 20%, UBS says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Hakyung Kim | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

UBS thinks Ormat Technologies , a little-known geothermal and renewable energy company, could see big earnings growth in the coming years, creating a promising buying opportunity for investors. UBS sees multiple tailwinds ahead for the company, such as new geothermal, solar and storage capacity additions, as well as improving backlog and margins. Ormat is also anticipated to benefit from state and federal policy support for renewable energy. However, he said that "the recent underperformance provides investors with a buying opportunity ahead of the coming growth recovery." Windham raised his price target to $105 from $103, implying a 24.2% upside from the stock's closing price on Tuesday.

[1/3] A Walt Disney World photographer holds a Pride rainbow-coloured Mickey Mouse cutout before the "Festival of Fantasy" parade at the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom theme park in Orlando, Florida, U.S. July 30, 2022. REUTERS/Octavio JonesFeb 27 (Reuters) - Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a bill that asserts state oversight on the land surrounding Walt Disney World, dramatically changing a special tax district that for half a century allowed Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) to operate with a high degree of autonomy. “The corporate kingdom finally comes to an end,” DeSantis said during a press event at Lake Buena Vista in Orlando. In March, Disney’s then-chief executive officer, Bob Chapek, publicly voiced disappointment with the bill limiting LGBTQ discussion in schools, saying he called DeSantis to express concern about the legislation becoming law. Disney World is the largest employer in central Florida with close to 75,000 employees and drew 36.2 million visitors in 2021, according to the Themed Entertainment Association.

☆ Russian rocket destroys Kramatorsk apartment building; 2 dead, governor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] People remove debris at a site of a residential building destroyed by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine February 1, 2023. Head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration Pavlo Kyrylenko/Handout via REUTERSFeb 1 (Reuters) - A Russian rocket destroyed an apartment building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk late on Wednesday and at least two people were killed and seven injured, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko wrote on Telegram. "Rescuers, law enforcement and public utilities are working at the scene to go through the rubble of the destroyed building. At least 44 people were killed last month when a Russian missile hit an apartment building in the eastern city of Dnipro. Last April, Ukraine said 57 people died when a Russian missile hit the train station in Kramatorsk.

☆ Armenia tells World Court Azerbaijan blockade is 'ethnic cleansing'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Stephanie Van Den Berg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

THE HAGUE, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Armenia told judges at the World Court on Monday that a blockade of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region by neighbouring Azerbaijan was designed to allow "ethnic cleansing", a claim rejected by Baku. Monday's hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court, was called to hear an Armenian request for the court to order Azerbaijan to lift the blockade. "Such blatant acts of ethnic cleansing have no place in the modern era and this court is the last hope for the ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh," Kirakosyan said. Mammadov also said that Armenia's claims of ethnic cleansing were "distorting reality deliberately" and were "fanning the flames" of conflict. On Tuesday the ICJ will hear a competing demand from Azerbaijan for the court to order Armenia to stop planting landmines in territories it once occupied.

☆ Firefighters smashed the window of a driverless Cruise taxi to stop it running over their hoses
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Firefighters smashed the front window of a Cruise autonomous car to stop it from running over hoses. Another Cruise car ran over a fire hose when it was in use at an active fire scene in June 2022. The incidents were noted in a letter sent by San Francisco officials to regulators on Wednesday. San Francisco firefighters smashed the front window of a Cruise driverless taxi to stop it from running over their hoses. A similar incident occurred in June 2022 when a self-driving Cruise car ran over a fire hose that was in use, the letter says.

☆ Two companies race to deploy robotaxis in San Francisco. The city wants them to hit the brakes.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco is trying to slow the expansion of robotaxis after repeated incidents in which cars without drivers stopped and idled in the middle of the street for no obvious reason, delaying bus riders and disrupting the work of firefighters. Some believe self-driving cars will never happen on a wide scale, but they’ve been gaining momentum in San Francisco. San Francisco doesn’t want robotaxis operating in the city’s downtown core, for example, or during morning and evening peak commuting times. He also provided letters in support of Cruise written by local San Francisco merchants associations, disability advocates and community groups. City officials argue that stopped robotaxis are hazards that can cause human drivers to react dangerously.

It said 80% of its close to $8 trillion in assets are in its index funds, which primarily attract retail investors. Vanguard's biggest competitors, BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) and State Street Corp's (STT.N) asset-management arm, rely more on institutional investors including pension funds and foundations. Many retail investors are also interested in matters like climate change, but prioritize them less in building retirement portfolios, said Rosenbluth and other industry analysts. A FINRA Investor Education Foundation study of retail investors last March found only 9% of respondents held ESG investments. A big factor behind this gap is retail investors' lack of familiarity or knowledge about ESG products, the study found.

☆ Officials seeking surveillance video after 4 Washington substations were vandalized
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Phil-Helsel-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Phil Helsel | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Authorities in Washington state were asking for surveillance or other video Tuesday as they investigate what has been called deliberate damage to power substations. The vandalism at four substations south and southeast of Tacoma on Christmas Day left more than 14,000 customers without power, officials said. The sheriff’s department has said a reason for the burglaries and vandalism incidents, one of which caused a fire, was unknown. Sheriff's department spokesman Sgt. The sheriff’s department asked Tuesday on social media that anyone with surveillance video at their home or business review the video.

Three electricity substations in the Tacoma, Washington, area were attacked Sunday, leaving an as many as 14,000 customers affected, authorities said. The agency estimated the number of homes and businesses affected by the attacks was 14,000 at one point Sunday. In a statement, TPU said, "Two of our substations were deliberately targeted by physical attacks." On Dec. 3, vandals attacked two Duke Energy substations in Moore County, North Carolina, leaving 45,000 customers in the dark for more than three days straight, officials said. Investigators probing the North Carolina attacks were looking at online conspiracy theories to determine whether any played a role, two senior law enforcement officials briefed on the matter told NBC News earlier this month.

☆ Two substations attacked in Washington state, utility says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 25 (Reuters) - Thousands of residents were without power near Tacoma, Washington, after two electrical substations were attacked, and the incidents have been reported to the police, the local utility company said on Sunday. "Early this morning, two Tacoma Power substation facilities were attacked in east Pierce county. ... Law enforcement has been notified," Tacoma Public Utilities said in a post on Twitter. The utility gave no other details about the nature of the Christmas Day attack. Earlier this month, a utility in North Carolina reported outages from what local authorities said were orchestrated shootings now being investigated by federal law enforcement.

☆ California cuts payments to homeowners for solar panels feeding energy back to the grid
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday passed a proposal that will reduce compensation provided to households for the surplus electricity their rooftop solar panels contribute to the electric grid. Utilities and consumer groups have argued the incentive payments have unfairly favored wealthier consumers and harmed poor and low-income households. But solar companies and renewable advocates have said that lowering the compensation would slow solar installations and hinder the state's goals to address climate change. More than 1.5 million homes, businesses and other utility customers in California have rooftop solar panels. The utilities commission estimates that these installations can collectively produce 12 gigawatts of electricity.

☆ California to vote on hotly debated change in rooftop solar policy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Solar installers from Baker Electric place solar panels on the roof of a residential home in Scripps Ranch, San Diego, California, U.S. October 14, 2016. For decades, Californians with rooftop panels have been credited for excess power at or near the full retail electricity rate. Solar companies counter that the changes would slow new installations and threaten California's clean energy and climate change goals. California's three investor-owned utilities are Pacific Gas & Electric (PCG.N), Southern California Edison (EIX.N) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SRE.N). Customers installing solar with a battery, for example, would save about $136 a month under the plan, compared with $100 a month with just solar.

☆ California Looks to Ban Diesel Trucks at Ports by 2035
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Paul Berger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

An ambitious California plan to require trucking fleets in the state to switch from diesel to electric power faces a potential backup at charging stations. Requiring that dealers and truckers make the switch should give companies confidence to invest in charging stations, Mr. Brasil said. The trucks tend to cost two or three times as much as diesel trucks, which retail for about $150,000. State officials say they have funded 200 charging stations for medium- and heavy-duty trucks so far and that many more are being funded by private companies. Write to Paul Berger at paul.berger@wsj.comCorrections & AmplificationsThe Port of Los Angeles expects to install a small number of charging stations for electric trucks.

University power plants are much smaller than their industry counterparts and thus produce fewer overall emissions. All fossil-fuel power plants produce these emissions, which are created when these fuels are burned. These facilities include large power plants owned by public utilities as well as private plants that provide electricity and heating for big consumers such as refineries, paper mills and colleges. Reuters identified 103 university power plants run by 93 four-year institutions among the facilities tracked by the EIA. NOx ComparisonsReuters turned to a different data set to obtain NOx emission rates for university power plants: pollution tests required by state and federal regulators.

In a 250-page proposed decision, regulators outlined reforms to the so-called "net energy metering", a state policy that issues credits to solar energy customers for generating excess electricity and feeding it back to the grid. The proposal will not affect current home solar owners and will maintain their current compensation, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) said. Shares of rooftop solar system providers, including Sunrun Inc (RUN.O), SunPower Corp (SPWR.O) and Sunnova Energy International Inc (NOVA.N), closed 20% to 27% higher on Thursday. "This has been an overhang for rooftop solar stocks that would be alleviated if passed similar to today's proposal," said Morningstar analyst Brett Castelli. "The CPUC's new proposed decision would really hurt.

☆ California's incentive proposal for rooftop solar targets low-income households
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

OAKLAND, Nov 10 (Reuters) - California regulators on Thursday made a new proposal for incentivizing rooftop solar systems, a contentious matter as the state tries to expand renewable energy and respond to critics who want more equitable distribution of incentives. Shares of rooftop solar system providers, including Sunrun Inc (RUN.O), SunPower Corp (SPWR.O) and Solaredge Technologies Inc (SEDG.O), were up between 12% and 26% in afternoon trading. The new policy proposals outlined by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) include an additional $900 million to support battery and solar systems, mostly for low-income customers. The proposal will not affect current home solar owners and will maintain their current compensation, the CPUC said. Reporting by Peter Henderson, Nichola Groom and Ruhi Soni; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Watchdog CPUC seeks $155 million in fines against PG&E over Zogg wildfire
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 26 (Reuters) - The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) watchdog on Tuesday proposed fines of $155.4 million against shareholders of utility Pacific Gas and Electric Co (PG&E) (PCG.N) for alleged violations related a 2020 wildfire in the state. PG&E was last year charged with manslaughter and other felonies by prosecutors in Shasta County over the Zogg fire, which killed four people, destroyed 204 structures, and burned more than 56,000 acres. read moreThe proposed penalties follow an investigation by the CPUC's Safety and Enforcement Division into the fire, which found that PG&E failed "to remove trees marked for removal as a result of poor recordkeeping." PG&E said in a statement that it was reviewing the proposed order, adding that it had already have resolved civil claims with Shasta County and "reached settlements with most individual victims and their families". Reporting by Deep Vakil; editing by John Stonestreetin BengaluruOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Resist Russian conscription, Zelenskyy tells men in occupied regions; Ukraine imposes curbs on energy use
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Russian-installed deputy governor of the Kherson region has insisted Russia is not surrendering the city of Kherson, despite calling on residents to evacuate immediately. Russian officials frequently and baselessly refer to Ukrainian forces as "Nazis" in a bid to demonize them. Russian-installed officials say up to 60,000 people could evacuate the area over the next six days. In a further development, the acting governor of the region Vladimir Saldo told the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Wednesday that entry to the Kherson region for civilians will be very limited for seven days due to the turbulent situation. "Only those who will be given a pass by the commandant's office" will be able to enter the region, Saldo said, according to comments reported by the Tass news agency.

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