Energy news in brief

** A Department of Energy report says wind and solar will be the fastest growing sources of new capacity for 2020, accounting for more than 37 GW combined.

** Twenty states led by California are set to file two lawsuits challenging EPA’s recent methane rules for newly built oil and gas wells and other facilities.

** David Legates, a professor of climatology at the University of Delaware who has spent years rejecting the scientific consensus that human activity is causing climate change, confirmed with NPR this weekend that he was hired as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s deputy assistant secretary of commerce for observation and prediction.

** The EPA estimates more than 500,000 diesel pickups in the U.S. have had pollution controls “deleted” by their owners with aftermarket devices.

** A secret recording made at a 2019 Colorado industry gathering shows oil executives worried about the optics of flaring natural gas that is uneconomical to recover.

** Sri Lanka has initiated repair work on the ruptured fuel oil tank in the engine room of a stricken fully loaded oil supertanker after plugging the leak, the country’s Navy said.

**  Australia on Monday proposed offering incentives worth $2.3 billion over 10 years to keep the country’s four remaining oil refineries open and said it would invest in building fuel storage as part of a long-term fuel security plan.

** Walmart announces plans to help its U.S.-based suppliers speed up their adoption of solar and renewable energy.

** Ash and smoke from wildfires has cut solar production as much as 20% in parts of California, according to the state’s grid operator.

** National Grid quietly puts on hold a seven-mile pipeline that would go under the Hudson River in upstate New York due to COVID-19 and increased use of renewables.

** North Carolina will continue its lawsuit against the federal government’s decision to advance seismic testing off the state’s Atlantic coast even after a company withdrew its request to do so.

** The GOP-led Minnesota Senate ousts the state’s commerce commissioner after the agency continued legal challenges to the Line 3 pipeline replacement.

** A Minnesota agency is finalizing a proposal for electric vehicle incentives, including requirements for manufacturers to deliver a minimum number of EVs to dealers.

** New research finds that Wyoming oil and gas companies received the vast majority of royalty and lease relief from a federal aid program.

** The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will consider the nominations of Democrat Allison Clements and Republican Mark Christie on Wednesday to become FERC commissioners.