** Texas lawmakers approve legislation to require nearly every solar and wind farm in the state to back up their energy production with gas-fired power plants or batteries or face a steep fine, potentially shutting down thousands of megawatts of existing projects. ** Duke Energy blames a slithering snake for causing the May 5 power …
Category: Wind Energy
Resurrected wind tower setback bill approved in Oklahoma House
As some Oklahoma legislative observers remind us, “nothing is dead in the legislature until sine die is declared” and such is the case for the wind farm setback bill, SB2. After the House of Representatives defeated the measure Tuesday evening on a 44-49 vote, it was resurrected Wednesday on a move by Rep. Trey …
Contractors hired to build 800-mile long Grain Belt Express
Construction contracts totaling $1.7 billion were awarded this week to contractors to build the 800-mile electric transmission line called the Grain Belt Express, a project to carry southwest Kansas wind-generated electricity across Missouri, Illinois and to Indiana. Invenergy, the developer of the massive project awarded the contracts to Quanta Services of Houston and …
Energy briefs
** The CEO of Diamondback Energy, Travis D. Stice, warned that tumbling oil prices will depress US crude output, predicting that American onshore production has peaked. Prices hit a four-year low on Monday, with WTI crude trading below $60 a barrel since the start of May. ** The Trump administration has denied federal assistance for …
Energy briefs
** The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to end Energy Star, a program whose iconic blue labels have certified the energy efficiency of home appliances for more than three decades, as part of its broader reorganization, two sources briefed on the reorganization told Reuters. ** House Speaker Mike Johnson says the $7,500 federal EV tax …
Energy briefs
** The Trump administration considers selling oil and gas leases in the Arctic Ocean more than 200 miles offshore, but experts say the industry may not be interested due to resource and legal uncertainty. ** North Dakota lawmakers advance a proposal that could offer up to $500 million in subsidies to support the development of …
New Mexico among Democratic states suing Trump over wind energy order
While Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond joined 23 other Republican AGs in suing Vermont over its Climate Act, 18 Democratic attorneys general sued President Donald Trump on Monday, seeking to block the administration’s “categorical and indefinite” pause on approvals for new wind energy projects. New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez was among those who argued …
Energy briefs
** Sunoco and Canada-based Parkland Corp. announced an agreement May 5 in which Sunoco will acquire all outstanding shares of Parkland for about US$9.1 billion (CA$12.56). The deal, which includes assumed debt, positions Sunoco for expanded operations across a larger service area. ** Seventy-two of Indiana’s 92 counties have a moratorium or ban on utility-scale renewable energy …
Grassley isn’t afraid to defend Iowa’s wind industry following attacks by President Trump
While President Trump has attacked the nation’s wind industry, his attacks have drawn a rebuke from Iowa U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley. The Republican Senator came out recently in defense of the wind industry in his home state after the President told a rally in Michigan, “You know what I don’t give approval to, …
Scott Mitchell talks energy with Jerry Bohnen—falling oil prices and why the state sided with a wind farm operator
Scott Mitchell talks energy with Jerry Bohnen about falling crude oil prices, rising gasoline prices and much more. Plus, Oklahoma’s reason to side with a wind farm.