A bill putting restrictions and more requirements on commercial solar energy operators in Oklahoma will be considered this week by members of the Oklahoma House Energy Committee. HB1373 by Rep. Brad Boles, Marlow, and Sen. Grant Green, Wellston, would create theCommercial Solar Facility Decommissioning Act. “A person who is harmed by a violation of the …
Category: General
Corporation Commission meets Tuesday
Oklahoma regulators are to meet Tuesday in Oklahoma City to hear reviews and reports from their various departments in the Corporation Commission. The agenda includes a briefing from the Transportation Division on motor carrier enforcement, ports of entry and weigh stations. Corporation Commissioners Kim David, Brian Bingman and Todd Hiett are to also get …
Democrat-led states sue over Trump’s freeze of renewable energy funds
Democratic attorneys general of 23 states, including Colorado, filed a lawsuit last week trying to block the Trump administration’s funding freeze for rooftop solar, efficiency and other clean energy programs. They filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction to require federal agencies to release funds that were withheld based on instructions from the Office of Management …
SPP cautions of severe winter weather and the threats to electrical power
As another round of bitter cold weather settles in over the Midwest, bringing snow, sleet and ice, it’s prompted officials controlling the 14-state electric grid known as the Southwest Power Pool, to issue an advisory to its members. It’s only a “Weather Advisory” and does not require any conservation of energy on the part …
What Doug Burgum’s critics say about his Interior Department orders
While the nation’s oil and gas industry and its supporters have applauded new Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s recent orders revoking anti-industry orders by the Biden administration, the new efforts have their critics. An example is a recent report by Inside Climate News. National monuments, migratory birds, endangered and threatened species: Some of the nation’s …
Evergy wants to boost electric bills by $13 a month in Kansas
Customers of Evergy, the largest electrical provider in Kansas, face a possible $13 increase in monthly bills if the utility’s $196 million rate hike request is approved. The company recently filed the request with the Kansas Corporation Commission with CEO David Campbell explaining it’s necessary. “Evergy continues to focus on keeping rates as low …
Face of opposition to Cimarron Link transmission line in Oklahoma
Darren Blanchard started out just wanting to protect his small farm in Creek County not far from Tulsa. But he’s turned into the face and voice of the growing movement against the Cimarron Link transmission line that would stretch from the Oklahoma Panhandle and across his land. He’s been interviewed by Tulsa TV stations …
Trump redlights EV infrastructure funds in Oklahoma and elsewhere
Oklahoma’s state Transportation Department might have been put into even more of a lurch this past week regarding suspended funding for the buildout of an EV charging network along major interstates in Oklahoma. That’s when President Trump’s administration on Thursday night ordered states such as Oklahoma and others to bring to a screeching halt, …
Missouri landowners hit with eminent domain by Grain Belt Transmission line
The developer of the $7 billion Grain Belt Express transmission line, the one designed to carry wind-powered electricity from southwest Kansas to Indiana, has filed more than 40 eminent domain petitions against Missouri property owners. The company resorted to the legal condemnation of land after owners rejected offers. Click here for Columbia Missourian
Mitsubishi cancels plans for $1.3 billion chemical plant
A proposed $1.3 billion chemical plant in Louisiana has been cancelled by vehicle manufacturer Mitsubishi. The company originally wanted to produce methyl methacrylate or MMA, a chemical used to produce plastic and rubber products and paints and glazes. But the Japanese conglomerate did an independent report last summer that concluded the plant would not be …