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Hotspots

Is Washington State’s Huge Wind Farm Actually Out of Danger?

And more of the week’s most important conflicts around renewable energy.

Map.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

1. Madison County, Missouri – A giant battery material recycling plant owned by Critical Mineral Recovery exploded and became engulfed in flames last week, creating a potential Vineyard Wind-level PR headache for energy storage.

  • The explosion led surrounding communities to evacuate. As video of the explosion ricocheted across Facebook and elsewhere, EPA began giving regular public updates and the National Fire Protection Association put an explainer out about the risks of battery fires.
  • As of Monday, EPA was finding “occasional detections” of toxic hydrogen fluoride and particulate matter in the air but “below action levels … typically associated with flare-ups during the continued” safety efforts at the plant.
  • CMR did not respond to a request for comment.

2. Benton County, Washington State – Governor Jay Inslee finally got state approvals finished for Scout Clean Energy’s massive Horse Heaven wind farm after a prolonged battle over project siting, cultural heritage management, and bird habitat.

  • Inslee previously rejected a request by the state’s energy siting council to slash the size of Horse Heaven to accommodate environmental concerns and host community discontent. Some turbines were taken off of the project plans but nowhere near the recommended reduction.
  • I spoke with Paul Krupin at Tri-Cities CARES, a citizens group that was opposed to the scope of the project, who told me his organization and collaborating opponents in the Yakima tribe have yet to decide whether to challenge this approval in state court.
  • “We’re thinking about it,” he said, acknowledging some potential legal claims may have an uphill battle but Yakama tribal members may have a shot because of existing treaty rights.

3. Fulton County, Georgia – A large NextEra battery storage facility outside of Atlanta is facing a lawsuit that commingles usual conflicts over building these properties with environmental justice concerns, I’ve learned.

  • The litigation was filed in October in Fulton County Superior Court by three residents close to the proposed project site and challenges the legality of local regulators’ March approval of the battery project.
  • Activists have declared the project an environmental justice issue given the majority-black surrounding communities also claim to deal with other forms of disproportionate industrialization from Amazon warehouses.
  • “This is an older neighborhood … They’ve lived there my entire life. It’s one thing if you consciously decide to move into a neighborhood that has a battery storage facility,“ activist Mose James IV told podcaster Adrianne Hutchinson in September, “but for some reason on the South side – South Fulton – our neighbors, we look up and there’s warehouses surrounding each and every one of our neighborhoods.”
  • To watch the full interview with James and to hear how this battery fight portends environmental justice problems in the energy transition, here’s a link.

Here’s what else I’m watching…

In Colorado, Weld County commissioners approved part of one of the largest solar projects in the nation proposed by Balanced Rock Power.

In New Mexico, a large solar farm in Sandoval County proposed by a subsidiary of U.S. PCR Investments on land typically used for cattle is facing consternation.

In Pennsylvania, Schuylkill County commissioners are thinking about new solar zoning restrictions.

In Kentucky, Lost City Renewables is still wrestling with local concerns surrounding a 1,300-acre solar farm in rural Muhlenberg County.

In Minnesota, Ranger Power’s Gopher State solar project is starting to go through the public hearing process.

In Texas, Trina Solar – a company media reports have linked to China – announced it sold a large battery plant the day after the election. It was acquired by Norwegian company FREYR.

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Q&A

An America First Strategy for Renewable Energy?

A conversation with Tim Brightbill of Wiley Rein LLP

Tim Brightbill of Wiley Rein LLP.
Heatmap Illustration

Today we’re talking with Tim Brightbill, a trade attorney at Wiley Rein LLP and lead counsel for a coalition of U.S. solar cell and module manufacturers – the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee. Last week, his client won a massive victory – fresh tariffs on south Asian solar panel parts – on the premise that Chinese firms are dumping cheap products in the region to drive down prices and hurt American companies. It’s the latest in a long series of decadal trade actions against solar parts with Chinese origin.

We wanted to talk to Tim about how this move could affect developers, if an America-first strategy could help insulate solar from political opposition, and how this could play out in next year’s talks over the future of the IRA. The following conversation was lightly edited for clarity.

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Policy Watch

The IRA’s Coming China Change

And more of the week’s biggest news around renewable energy policy.

Trump.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Sourcing requirements – As we explain in our Q&A today, there’s momentum building in Washington, D.C., to attach new sourcing requirements to an IRA credit for advanced manufacturing known as 45X.

  • 45X is supposed to supercharge production of battery and solar components, as well as key minerals and materials for those components that are largely imported from China or what U.S. trade officials believe are Chinese pass-throughs.
  • Some U.S. companies are now quietly urging Congress to enact a “foreign entity of concern” requirement to 45X that would essentially stop battery and solar manufacturing plants with Chinese business involvement from qualifying.
  • Why? Well, doing this would definitely insulate the credit from GOP repeal by tying it not to rapid decarbonization but instead American blue collar jobs.
  • Patrick Donnelly, chief commercial officer for Anovion, told attendees of a Hill briefing I moderated earlier this week that he wants to see this happen because it would be a “game changer” for domestic manufacturing. “I’ve heard some Republicans talking about it already.”
  • But it could also undermine the effectiveness of the credit for climate purposes. Similar requirements were tacked onto the IRA’s EV consumer credit that curtailed its reach and meant many cars couldn’t access the benefit.

Virginia’s planning – The state of Virginia is looking at its own plans to override local objections, which would make it one of the few GOP-led states to do so.

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Hotspots

Is Trump Already Killing Off Renewable Energy Projects?

And more of the week’s news around renewable energy conflicts.

Map of renewable energy conflicts.
Heatmap Illustration

Queens County, New York – TotalEnergies’ first Attentive Energy offshore wind project might be the canary in the Trumpy renewables coal mine.

  • The New York wind project in the bight has been indefinitely paused, according to TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyenne, meaning we have our first offshore wind derailment of the Trump era, many weeks before he’s even taken office.
  • It’s unclear how connected Trump is to the move. Attentive Energy also pulled out of New York state’s fifth offshore wind solicitation before this news dropped, which also arrived days before the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management implemented new requirements for projects built in the area where the project would be built.
  • However, remember that even though Attentive Energy has little opposition in New York State, anti-offshore activists are aggressively challenging efforts by New Jersey state to buy power from the project.
  • We’ll have to wait and see if this decision is a domino for other offshore wind curtailments. But we’re already seeing evidence, as Shell announced hours ago it is no longer investing in new offshore wind projects.

Clinton County, Michigan – EV manufacturing news in Michigan is showing that fallout from Trump’s election may not be limited to offshore wind, and could creep into other projects facing grassroots opposition.

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