The way humans get energy is about to change forever, forecast says
by Judith Mills June 24, 2015 June 29, 2015
TRANSITION: Trillions of dollars will be invested over the next 25 years, driving profound changes in how humans get their electricity, according to a new forecast by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. (Bloomberg)
FRACKING:
• A federal judge in Wyoming has temporarily blocked implementation of the Bureau of Land Management's regulations for fracking on federal land, hours before they were set to take effect. (The Hill)
• The Ute Indian Tribe announced Tuesday it will seek to join a federal lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management over the agency's new fracking rules. (Deseret News)
VETO: The White House has threatened to veto two GOP bills, one allowing states to opt out of the EPA's climate rule for power plants and the other severely cutting the EPA's 2016 budget. (The Hill)
BIOMASS: Allowing the burning of biomass to reduce consumption of fossil fuels, as proposed by the EPA, would violate the Clean Air Act, a group of top environmental organizations told the White House in a letter Tuesday. (The New York Times)
OIL SPILL: Exxon Mobil said Tuesday it had stopped production at three offshore platforms that shipped oil to an onshore processing plant isolated after a California pipeline ruptured and was shut down. (FuelFix)
JOBS: The U.S. petroleum industry lost about 6.5 percent of its jobs from October to April, or about 35,000 workers, with more losses expected, the Energy Information Administration said Tuesday. (FuelFix)
• Solar energy is a better deal for the grid and ratepayers than retail electricity in many cases, according to a new study in the Midwest. (Midwest Energy News)
• Xcel Energy has reached an agreement with several developers to limit the size of co-located community solar gardens in Minnesota to 5 megawatts or less. (Midwest Energy News)
EARTHQUAKES:
• Texas will deploy additional sensors to study a rash of earthquakes shaking the state to determine whether the tremors are linked to the underground disposal of oilfield waste. (FuelFix)
• University of Oklahoma officials were seeking a $25 million donation from a billionaire oilman while the school's scientists were concluding that earthquakes rattling the state were not caused by the oil industry. (EnergyWire)
WEATHERIZATION: Federal investments in weatherization cost about twice as much as the energy savings generated, according to a study released Tuesday. (Bloomberg)
SOLAR: Cisco Systems announced Tuesday that NRG will develop a 20-megawatt solar power facility near the California-Arizona border that will supply power to the tech giant's San Jose headquarters. (SiliconBeat)
ARCTIC DRILLING: Shell's plans for oil exploration this summer in Alaska may not comply with federal rules protecting marine mammals. (The Seattle Times)
2016 ELECTION: The American Petroleum Institute is reviving its election advocacy arm to convince voters to choose candidates who support the priorities of the oil and natural gas industry in 2016. (The Hill)
PIPELINE LEAK: Alyeska Pipeline Service is working on a repair for a small crude oil leak found in a buried section of the trans-Alaska pipeline, but for now an employee is tending to the leak with a rag. (Associated Press)