** Authorities have recovered the body of a fifth victim in the Baltimore bridge collapse five weeks ago, officials said Wednesday. The victim has been identified as Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, according to the Unified Command, a joint task force composed of police, coast guard and other government agencies to respond to the disaster.
** Chubb, the insurer of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge that collapsed in March, is preparing to make a $350 million payout to the state of Maryland, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
** Texas was the leading state for solar installations in 2023. Since 2021, more than 15 GW of new solar capacity has been added in Texas. Furthermore, the Solar Energy Industries Association predicts Texas will lead the nation with nearly 100 GW of new solar capacity additions from 2024 to 2034, outpacing the next closest state by a two-to-one margin.
** One of the largest solar projects in the country is moving closer to completion, and it’s not in a famously sunny state like California, Texas, or even Florida. It’s in Minnesota, on former potato farms near the site of a retiring coal plant. The Sherco solar and energy-storage facility will be the largest solar project in the Upper Midwest, and the fifth-largest in the U.S. by the time it’s fully completed in 2026.
** GE Vernova’s Wind business line saw a 40% decline in organic orders and a 7% decline in organic revenues in Q1 2024 as its customers worked through siting and permitting challenges for new wind projects, the company said Thursday.
** California lawmakers call for $1 billion ‘down payment’ on offshore wind energy infrastructure.
** During a congressional hearing this week, Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin jumped all over the oil industry for minimizing the impacts of fossil fuels on the climate and at the same time called Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson a “climate fatalist.”
** The Federal Communications Commission is moving to prevent Huawei, ZTE and other foreign companies deemed to pose U.S. national security concerns from certifying wireless equipment, officials told Reuters on Wednesday.
World
** Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management and technology giant Microsoft will develop new wind and solar farms in an attempt to bring over 10.5 gigawatts of new renewable energy capacity, the companies said on Wednesday.
