** For many drivers of EVs, premature tire wear has become an unexpected black mark on vehicles promoted as a green climate-friendly option to gas-gulping cars.
** US household utility debt is at a record high as more Americans struggle to cope with rising heating and cooling costs.
** Plug Power Inc. surged the most in three years after the hydrogen company said it’s getting close to finalizing a $1.6 billion loan from the US Energy Department, and it’s cutting spending to shore up the balance sheet.
** Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc.’s shares rose on Tuesday after state lawmakers introduced a bill that would allow the company’s electric utility to sell recovery bonds backed by customer rates to cover costs from the deadly Maui wildfire.
** Soybean oil prices rose in Chicago amid speculation that a new biofuels plant in California has received the green light to start operating in a few weeks.
World
** Renewables are set to displace coal as the top source of energy for electricity production globally in 2025, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday. In its annual report on the electricity market, the IEA said that renewables — in particular from solar panels — should see their share of total electricity production surpass a third of the total.
** Just months after announcing plans to sell its oil and gas holdings, the Church of England Pensions Board is now going after the biggest consumers of fossil fuels.
** Farmer protests are spreading across Europe, with workers from countries including France and Poland disrupting transport routes over rising costs and burdensome regulations.
** Qatar, one of the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas exporters, is delaying some shipments to Europe as the crisis in the Red Sea forces longer travel times.
** Rio Tinto Group said a number of its staff heading to the company’s Diavik diamond mine died in a fatal plane crash near Fort Smith in Canada.