Category: Policy Watch America

President Trump’s executive orders on energy

President Trump’s executive orders on energy

February 3, 2025 | ,

In energy, the strategy was summed up by the announcement that the US would again be leaving the Paris climate agreement. Where the Biden administration aimed to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the Trump administration is attempting to increase US fossil fuel production. The new administration aims to boost oil and gas production and baseload generation, while curbing wind power and EVs. On Inauguration Day, 20 January, the new president issued a barrage of executive orders, intended to “begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense,” as he put it in his inaugural address. His objective was both to begin to implement his agenda and to signal the planned strategy for his administration over the next four years.

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More Jobs, Lower Costs: Solar for Schools Grants Opening Soon in Pennsylvania

More Jobs, Lower Costs: Solar for Schools Grants Opening Soon in Pennsylvania

November 4, 2024 | , ,

The law creates the “Solar for Schools Grant Program” within the Department of Community and Economic Development (“DCED”) to award targeted grants on a competitive basis to eligible applicants. Private schools are not eligible for grant awards. Grants can cover up to 50% of the costs related to the purchase/installation of solar PV panels or solar thermal devices to power a school facility. Grant awardees must pay the prevailing wage to any contractors or subcontractors hired to install the project.

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California Adopts Nation’s First Deadlines for Utilities to Connect EV Chargers to the Grid

California Adopts Nation’s First Deadlines for Utilities to Connect EV Chargers to the Grid

September 30, 2024 | ,

The California Public Utilities Commission approved a new set of timelines to accelerate the connection of new residential buildings, commercial businesses, and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to the electrical grid. This decision, which applies to California’s three largest investor-owned utilities—Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), San Diego Gas & Electric (SDGE), and Southern California Edison (SCE)—marks an important step in reducing delays that could undermine progress toward the state’s climate and air quality standards.

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US Trade Restrictions on Clean Energy Technology Imports

US Trade Restrictions on Clean Energy Technology Imports

September 23, 2024 | , ,

Related to the clean technology sector, the U.S. government has imposed tariffs and duties under three primary legal authorities: Section 201, Section 301 , and antidumping (AD) and countervailing duties (CVD). Each of these authorities has a different purpose and process for investigating and imposing tariffs, as described in this brief. In addition to measures such as tariffs, U.S. trade laws include provisions that seek to protect U.S. intellectual property from infringement and other forms of unfair competition.

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FERC’s Landmark Grid Rules

FERC’s Landmark Grid Rules

July 29, 2024 | ,

In a landmark development, the US energy regulator, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), notified the much-anticipated transmission reforms, which are expected to enable the accelerated development of high voltage power lines for greater renewable energy integration to help the country achieve its goal of a completely decarbonised power system by 2035.

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Evolution of Brazil’s Ethanol Policy

Evolution of Brazil’s Ethanol Policy

July 8, 2024 | , ,

Due to the long history of ethanol policies, Brazil now has one of the most successful programmes in the world for the use of renewable energy in the transport sector. No other country in the world has a fleet of almost 20 million light vehicles that can use any combination of gasoline and sugarcane ethanol the consumer wants to use. Despite recent difficulties, Brazil has maintained its position as the second largest producer of ethanol in the world, accounting for 25 per cent of global production and 20 per cent of global exports.

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Policies for Decarbonization of Chemical Industry in US

Policies for Decarbonization of Chemical Industry in US

May 27, 2024 | ,

The chemical industry needs a comprehensive decarbonization plan. The chemical industry is responsible for more than a quarter of U.S. gross domestic product and almost 10% of U.S. exports. Decarbonization of this sector will require policy developments on multiple fronts given the volume of products and the intersecting waste, toxicity, and climate threats that business-as-usual strategies pose.

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Clean Energy Investments for Rural America Are Booming

Clean Energy Investments for Rural America Are Booming

January 15, 2024 | ,

Interest from rural America and co-ops for the New ERA program has been overwhelming, with 157 proposals from nearly every state and Puerto Rico, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands. If every proposed project were to be built, they would represent $93 billion in combined public and private investments in rural America. While New ERA is an unprecedented opportunity to reshape the energy landscape of rural America, the demand from co-ops exceeds the size of the program. $9.7 billion can likely fund half of the projects included in initial applications.

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US DOE’s TSED Programme: Addresses transmission siting and permitting challenges

US DOE’s TSED Programme: Addresses transmission siting and permitting challenges

December 28, 2023 | ,

The US Department of Energy (DOE), which is the nodal agency for the disbursement of BIL and IRA funds for clean energy programmes, is deploying several strategies to help reduce siting and permitting delays in the construction of new transmission projects needed to maintain reliability, reduce consumer costs, and enable the addition of new clean energy resources. This includes the Transmission Siting and Economic Development (TSED) grant programme (established by IRA); the Coordinated Interagency Transmission Authorizations and Permits (CITAP) Program and the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETCs.

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US Investigation on Circumvention Enquiries of Solar Cells and Modules from China

US Investigation on Circumvention Enquiries of Solar Cells and Modules from China

August 28, 2023 | , ,

On August 18, 2023, the US Department of Commerce issued its final affirmative determinations that solar cells and modules completed in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, or Vietnam using components from China, and exported to the United States, are circumventing the antidumping duty and countervailing duty orders on solar cells, whether or not assembled into modules, from China. Duties will not be collected on imports before June 2024, because of a temporary duty suspension ordered by President Biden.

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US Energy Regulator Adopts New Interconnection Regime

US Energy Regulator Adopts New Interconnection Regime

August 14, 2023 | ,

Following contentious rule-making proceedings triggered by its proposed rule issued over 12 months ago, on July 28, 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued its final rule (Final Rule) to revise current pro forma generator interconnection procedures and agreements to impose “commercial readiness” requirements on new generator interconnection applicants, requiring more concrete interconnection plans and forfeitable deposits for new interconnection applicants and some pending interconnection applicants.

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Biden Administration Launches New Federal-State Offshore Wind Partnership to Grow American-Made Clean Energy

Biden Administration Launches New Federal-State Offshore Wind Partnership to Grow American-Made Clean Energy

June 30, 2022 | , ,

On June 23, the White House joined with eleven governors from up and down the East Coast to launch a new Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership that will accelerate the growing offshore wind industry. The partnership will support efforts to provide Americans with cleaner and cheaper energy, create good-paying jobs, and make historic investments in new American energy supply chains, manufacturing, shipbuilding, and servicing.

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Biden Administration Proposes First-Ever California Offshore Wind Lease Sale

Biden Administration Proposes First-Ever California Offshore Wind Lease Sale

May 31, 2022 | , ,

On May 26, 2022, the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued a Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) that includes three proposed lease areas in the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area (WEA) off central California and two proposed lease areas in the Humboldt WEA off northern California. The lease sale in two regions hundreds of miles apart is novel. Taken together, the five proposed lease areas total approximately 373,268 acres that have the potential to unlock over 4.5 gigawatts of offshore wind energy.

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RGGI Lowers Bills, Saving US Consumers Billions on Energy

RGGI Lowers Bills, Saving US Consumers Billions on Energy

May 25, 2022 | ,

At a time when energy prices are skyrocketing, here’s some good news for residents in 11 Eastern states: according to a new report out recently, RGGI, a regional power plant program, is working to lower electricity bills for households and businesses by billions of dollars and improve cost of living through investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy, electrification, and other measures that are also cutting pollution and cleaning up our air.

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CCUS Projects and US Federal Environmental Laws

CCUS Projects and US Federal Environmental Laws

April 28, 2022 | ,

Carbon capture, sequestration, utilization, and storage (CCUS) will be essential in meeting the Biden administration’s net zero GHG emission goals, as the chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) acknowledges that “to reach the President’s ambitious domestic climate goal of net-zero emissions economy-wide by 2050, the United States will likely have to capture, transport, and permanently sequester significant quantities of carbon dioxide.”

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Upgrading New York’s grid as the state prepares for higher renewable energy generation

Upgrading New York’s grid as the state prepares for higher renewable energy generation

January 21, 2021 | ,

The US is steadily moving towards the adoption of clean energy generation and its integration into the grid. In particular, New York is working rigorously towards achieving its clean energy targets set by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), which requires state-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to be 40 per cent lower than the 1990 levels by 2030 and 85 per cent lower by 2050. The state also has plans to develop 9,000 MW of offshore wind (OSW) by 2035.

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