QUICK NEWS, February 11: Complications In Democrats’ Climate Fight; The Fight To Remake The Grid

Complications In Democrats’ Climate Fight As Climate Change Returns to Capitol Hill, Disagreements Remain Among Democrats

Carolyn Kormann, February 9, 2019 (The New Yorker)

“…[The first House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing on climate change since 2013 and the first by the House Committee on Natural Resources since 2009 were held last week, signaling] some degree of new momentum…[but the] Democratic leadership seemed willing to go only so far in advancing climate talks on Capitol Hill…[The new Select Committee on the Climate Crisis] will have no legislative or subpoena power…The chairwoman will be Kathy Castor, of Florida, who has a mostly unknown record, outside her district, for environmental and emissions-reduction policy…[Only one of the committee’s members were among the 41 of the House’s 435 members to not take money from fossil fuel interests and, during the 2018 election cycle, the other committee members] or their political-action committees received $238,000 from the oil, gas, and electric-utilities industries…[Some] have investments in fossil-fuel assets…

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[Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] declined to serve on the committee, but] introduced a much-hyped resolution for a Green New Deal… [Conservatives] have blasted the proposal as an impossible fantasy…The point of the declaration is to put increasing pressure on the Democratic Party, especially Presidential candidates, to treat climate change with the urgency it demands… [According to just released NASA and NOAA analyses of 2018 trends, 2018 was the fourth-warmest year on record since 1880, following 2016, 2017, and 2015, but House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi said that the select climate committee was not specifically tasked with pursuing the Green New Deal…Without a unified front, the Democrats risk wasting valuable time that should be devoted to enacting federal policies to reduce emissions by as much as three per cent a year over the next several years—the necessary amount if the U.S. is to meet its climate targets under the Paris Agreement…” click here for more

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The Fight To Remake The Grid The 50 States of Grid Modernization: Grid Modernization Action Increases by 60% in 2018

February 7, 2019 (The N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center)

“…[The 2018 annual review and Q4 2018 update edition of The 50 States of Grid Modernization found] that 44 states and the District of Columbia took actions related to grid modernization during 2018…with the greatest number of actions relating to energy storage deployment, advanced metering infrastructure rules, utility business model reforms, smart grid deployment, and distribution system planning…[Among] top grid modernization trends of 2018…[were] States and utilities undertaking distribution system planning efforts…States studying the value of energy storage and policy options to expand deployment…Regulators rejecting and scaling back utility grid modernization investments…

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Growing movement toward performance-based regulation…Utilities requesting special ratemaking treatment for grid investments…States concluding grid modernization investigations and identifying next steps…Regulators establishing clear standards for energy storage interconnection…States considering rules for access to customer energy usage data…Utilities proposing advanced metering infrastructure opt-out tariffs and fees; and…Wholesale market operators expanding opportunities for energy storage participation…A total of 460 grid modernization actions were taken during 2018, representing a 60% increase in activity over 2017 (288 actions)… A total of 280 actions were tracked in Q4.” click here for more

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