Energy news in brief

** Another former Obama administration staffer joins the Biden administration. The President-elect named Elizabeth Klein as the deputy secretary of the Interior Department brining back the lawyer who served both the Clinton and Obama administrations.

** Representatives of fuel suppliers to Venezuela, importers of Venezuelan oil and advocacy groups said this month they plan to press the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden to reverse a ban on crude-for-diesel swaps.

** Venezuelan authorities issued an arrest warrant for a new member of the board of directors of U.S.-based refining firm Citgo Petroleum Corp named by the opposition this month, chief prosecutor Tarek Saab said on Monday. Saab said Jose Ramón Pocaterra was “illegally designated” to the board of Citgo, a subsidiary of Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela

**  Texas lawmakers file bills to require utilities to meet energy reduction targets, to limit where wind farms can be built and to study renewable energy’s effects on the grid reported the Houston Business Journal.

** Hawaii’s largest utility enlisted a new tool in its quest for a carbon-free electricity system: thousands of batteries installed in people’s homes. Hawaiian Electric won regulator approval for a $25 million plan to harness solar and batteries at 6,000 homes across the islands of Hawaii, Maui and Oahu reported Green Tech Media.

** The United States has informed Germany that it plans to impose sanctions on a Russian pipe-laying ship involved in construction of the Russian-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, the German Economy Ministry said on Monday.

** The French central bank said on Monday it would exit from coal and limit exposure to gas and oil in its investment portfolio by 2024 as part of a shift towards more environmentally friendly assets.

** The Department of the Air Force has chosen Huntsville, Alabama, to host U.S. Space Command, or SPACECOM, headquarters. An Air Force spokesperson told Military.com that the Army‘s Redstone Arsenal has been selected as the preferred location.

** Vermont has the highest number of electric vehicle charging stations per capita in the U.S. with 114 per 100,000 residents.