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Largest US Battery Resource Connects to CAISO Grid, Signaling Next Phase In California’s Storage Growth

Around 170 battery storage systems larger than 1 MW are currently operating in the U.S., but the 62.5 MW first phase of the Gateway project is already the largest in the country, CAISO said in a press release.

Storage resources are becoming more competitive, but installations are really being driven by carbon reduction and clean energy goals, Mohit Chhabra, senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council’s climate and clean energy program, told Utility Dive.

Proposals to Watch in Democrats’ Infrastructure Behemoth

House Democrats yesterday unveiled the details of a massive $1.5 trillion infrastructure package that has several sections focused on energy and environmental priorities. H.R. 2 and its 2,309 pages of provisions may become the most significant action taken by the House to promote a clean energy and climate-focused economic transformation this Congress.

U.S. House Democrats Unveil $1.5 Trillion Infrastructure Plan

U.S. House of Representatives Democrats on Thursday unveiled a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill that they will seek to pass in coming weeks, arguing it has been made more urgent by the coronavirus pandemic.

The legislation would spur construction or improvements f roads, bridges, ports, clean energy, schools and other projects that experts say have long been neglected. It comes at a time when the United States is in desperate need of new jobs amid an economic downturn sparked by the coronavirus.

Green Infrastructure Can Be Cheaper, More Effective than Dams

Hundreds of studies on nature-based solutions to extreme events show that “green infrastructure” is often cheaper and more effective than engineered projects like dams, levees and sea walls, according to a new analysis.

Trump’s Fossil Fuel Agenda Gets Pushback from Federal Judges

Federal courts have delivered a string of rebukes to the Trump administration over what they found were failures to protect the environment and address climate change as it promotes fossil fuel interests and the extraction of natural resources from public lands.

Three Signs that Battery Energy Storage is Mainstream Today

With the inclusion of battery energy storage into new building codes and safety standards, it’s obvious just how mainstream storage is today.

First-Of-Its-Kind Clean Hydrogen Plant Planned for Los Angeles County

An energy company with big ambitions to produce the clean fuel of the future announced a deal Tuesday with Lancaster officials to make hydrogen by using plasma heating technology — originally developed for NASA — to disintegrate the city’s paper recyclables at temperatures as high as 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Amid Pandemic, U.S. Renewable Power Sources Have Topped Coal for 40 Days

Electricity generated by renewable sources like solar, wind and hydro has exceeded coal-fired power in the United States for a record 40 straight days, according to a report based on U.S. government data released on Monday.

Bold Investments in Clean Energy and Transportation Infrastructure Will Help Lead Us Out of a Recession

As our leaders in Washington look to create a jobs program focused on national infrastructure investments to sustain the U.S. economy, their decisions will significantly impact our economic future, including the industries that will — and will not — receive a lifeline through federal stimulus dollars.

Environmental Disaster or a Key to Clean Energy Future? A New Twist on Hydropower

Steve Lowe gazed into a gaping pit in the heart of the California desert, careful not to let the blistering wind send him toppling over the edge.

The pit was a bustling iron mine once, churning out ore that was shipped by rail to a nearby Kaiser Steel plant. When steel manufacturing declined, Los Angeles County tried to turn the abandoned mine into a massive landfill. Conservationists hope the area will someday become part of Joshua Tree National Park, which surrounds it on three sides.

Lowe has a radically different vision.

With backing from NextEra Energy — the world’s largest operator of solar and wind farms — he’s working to fill two mining pits with billions of gallons of water, creating a gigantic “pumped storage” plant that he says would help California get more of its power from renewable sources, and less from fossil fuels.