“Around here it’s always been coal, coal, coal, we didn’t hear much about green energy,” said 19 year old aspiring electrician Mason Taylor, who comes from a long line of miners. “This is a great opportunity to learn, great pay, and maybe I’ll be able to stay here in the mountains with my family if solar takes off.”
CLEAN ENERGY
Must Be Equitable
Seattle is making EV charging more accessible. Utility Seattle City Light is piloting a curbside EV charging program aimed at helping apartment dwellers and other EV owners without driveways or garages. Seattle City Light will select 30 sites for Level 2 fast chargers in early 2023, prioritizing areas near apartments, condos, and mobile home parks. (Yale Climate Connections)
CLEAN ENERGY
Is A Good Investment
EV manufacturing is reviving industrial communities. After taking over an abandoned Mitsubishi auto plant in 2016, EV maker Rivian has taken steps to employ a local workforce in the surrounding Normal, Illinois community. The company now employs twice as many workers as Mitsubishi, and is helping the broader community undergo an economic revival. Other automakers are supporting similar community revivals driven by EV investments across the country, with new factories popping up across the Midwest and the South. (Washington Post $)
CLEAN ENERGY
Has Many Benefits
EVs and the grid go hand-in-hand. Despite concerns about the electricity demand of EVs during California’s historic heatwave, EVs have shown the potential to shore up the grid during high demand moments. By using vehicle-to-grid technology and smart charging, plugged-in EVs can help balance demand and deliver power back to homes or the grid, Axios writes. Energy News Network reports that these capabilities are already being tested in New England, where a local utility is launching a pilot program that pays EV owners for sending power back to the grid. (Axios, Energy News Network)
CLEAN ENERGY
Is Replacing Fossil Fuels
Clean energy jobs are reshaping the American economy. The Inflation Reduction Act is turbo-charging the shift to clean energy industries, as former coal workers are finding new career opportunities in industries like solar energy. The Guardian reports that communities in Appalachia are embracing the clean energy economy and increasingly see it as a natural evolution from the region’s coal-dominated history. Nationally, CNBC writes that the IRA is projected to create over half a million new jobs in renewable electricity industries. (The Guardian, CNBC)
U.S. solar industry gets huge boost from IRA. Thanks to the new climate law, the U.S. solar industry expects to install over 215 gigawatts of solar panels over the next five years, according to analysis from the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie. That represents a 40 percent increase compared to what would have been installed without the IRA. This forecast even comes amid ongoing challenges for solar supply chains based on trade issues and human rights concerns related to Chinese solar suppliers. While the report expects relatively low solar buildout this year, it anticipates significant gains beginning in 2024. (Bloomberg $)
California sees battery storage come to the rescue. As California experienced a devastating heatwave last week, batteries helped keep the grid afloat in the face of record-setting electricity demand. Utility officials said battery storage arrays set multiple new records for grid support, discharging over 3,000 megawatts of power back to the grid during just one day — more than double last year’s capacity. Storage resources are expected to play a bigger role in energy supply as they replace fossil fuel peaker plants and the grid continues to shift to renewable energy. (Energy Storage News)
CLEAN ENERGY
Is Challenging
Without more transmission, clean energy prices could rise. Analysts at Bank of America recently warned that in the absence of more transmission buildout, the IRA’s incentives for clean energy could make electricity more expensive. New transmission lines are critical to ensuring that more clean energy can come online and meet demand — without it, the overall supply of energy could remain static, making it more difficult to balance demand and risking price volatility. Despite its importance, transmission does not have a prominent role in the text of the new law. (Utility Dive)
MULTIMEDIA
Chart: Women hold less than a third of jobs in wind and solar power
