** In 15 U.S. states last year, coal was used to generate electricity more than any other energy source. Twenty years earlier, in 2001, coal was the largest source of electricity generation in 32 states. The United States has shifted away from coal-fired generation since it peaked in 2007 and toward natural gas and renewables.
** With around 10,000 customers restored so far, Duke Energy anticipated having nearly all customers restored by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday in the aftermath of an attack on two major substations Saturday in North Carolina’s Moore County.
** The first-ever auction for wind development off the country’s Pacific coast concluded on Wednesday — raking in a total of $757.1 million after two days of fierce bidding.
** A leading activist investment firm, U.K.-based Bluebell Capital Partners, is calling on BlackRock’s chief executive to resign over his “apparent hypocrisy” in the use of sustainability goals. The company accused CEO Larry Fink in a letter on Tuesday of repeatedly failing to live up to his stated sustainability commitments.
** Chevron Corporation announced 2023 organic capital expenditure budgets of $14 billion for consolidated subsidiaries (capex) and $3 billion for equity affiliates (affiliate capex), which total near the high end of the company’s guidance range.
** For the third time in the last four years, Eversource Energy has been recognized by Newsweek magazine as the top utility in its annual list of America’s Most Responsible Companies, in recognition of its national leadership in promoting corporate social responsibility, sustainability and corporate citizenship.
** The Biden administration is poised to ban federal buildings from using fossil fuels, adding the government’s heft to a growing electrification movement that has natural gas distributors on the defensive.
** U.S. officials are proposing to levy tariffs on steel and aluminum based on how much carbon the producing country’s industries emit, in a bid to fight climate change and “dirty” metals made in China and elsewhere, two people familiar with the plan said on Wednesday.
World
** The EU spent a record $13 billion on Russian LNG from January to September — five times more than a year earlier. Surging demand from countries such as France and Belgium have helped make Russia the No. 2 LNG supplier to northwest Europe this year.
** Switzerland — the best country in the world according to a recent analysis from US News & World Report — could shorten store operating hours, lower the thermostats at buildings, and limit the private use of electric cars to “absolutely necessary journeys.”
** India unveiled a 2.44 trillion rupee ($29.6 billion) plan to build transmission lines to connect renewable generation, as it aims to nearly triple its clean-power capacity by 2030.
** Six European Union countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, have warned that they cannot accept other member states’ attempts to lower further the level at which the bloc will cap gas prices, according to an email seen by Reuters.