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Policy Watch

Offshore Wind’s Sign of Resilience

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

Wind turbines.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

1. Offshore wind lease win – Two companies, Avangrid and Invenergy, purchased four of the eight leases up for grabs yesterday at the first floating offshore wind sale in the Gulf of Maine, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

  • I’ve previously chronicled how offshore wind is particularly vulnerable to the whims of the federal government and how if Donald Trump wins the presidency again, the entire U.S. sector could grind to a shrieking halt.
  • That’s why, as my colleague Emily Pontecorvo noted, the fact any leases were purchased at all is a surprise sign that not all momentum has stalled ahead of this consequential election.
  • “The fact that two developers took the leap now rather than waiting for 2028 – which is when the next lease sale in the Gulf of Maine is scheduled – shows some level of confidence in the long-term prospects for the industry,” she writes.

2. Community benefit plans – The Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office is letting the public in on its community benefit agreements, publishing three plans for a wire harness plant in Texas, a solar-plus-storage project on tribal lands in California, and the revived Holtec Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan.

  • The LPO emphasized labor and trade benefits involved in each project. We’ve previously explored how community benefit agreements can really help with getting local consent on a project, depending on how they’re structured.

3. Big ports money pour – The EPA yesterday debuted nearly $3 billion in IRA funding to port decarbonization projects ranging from direct acquisitions of zero-emission tech to internal emissions planning.

  • EPA stated projects will not receive all funding until remaining legal requirements have been met. I’d note environmental analysis of these funding decisions has been a factor in “permitting reform” talks in Washington.

Here’s what else I’m watching right now…

  • In Massachusetts, a compromise climate bill is temporarily taking a back seat to an economic development package.
  • In Rhode Island, a mayoral re-election bid is now infused with allegations of conflict-of-interest surrounding a solar farm, close friends, and Revity Energy.
  • In Wyoming, legislators rejected bills that would’ve curbed state eminent domain powers for carbon capture and renewables.

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Spotlight

Why County Commissioners Matter for the Climate

Inside a wild race sparked by a solar farm in Knox County, Ohio.

Drenda Keesee.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images, Screenshot/Vimeo

The most important climate election you’ve never heard of? Your local county commissioner.

County commissioners are usually the most powerful governing individuals in a county government. As officials closer to community-level planning than, say a sitting senator, commissioners wind up on the frontlines of grassroots opposition to renewables. And increasingly, property owners that may be personally impacted by solar or wind farms in their backyards are gunning for county commissioner positions on explicitly anti-development platforms.

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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.

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Policy Watch

The Climate Election’s Big Local Votes

What happened this week in climate and energy policy, beyond the federal election results.

Map of South Dakota for the Summit Carbon Solutions CO2 pipeline.
Heatmap illustration.

1. It’s the election, stupid – We don’t need to retread who won the presidential election this week (or what it means for the Inflation Reduction Act). But there were also big local control votes worth watching closely.

  • South Dakotans at the ballot box successfully defeated a law intended to expedite approvals and construction of the Summit Carbon Solutions CO2 pipeline, my colleague Emily Pontecorvo writes.
  • In Morro Bay, California, almost 60% of voters weighed in to support stopping a battery energy storage facility. Developer Vistra announced plans for an alternative permitting pathway a day before voting commenced.
  • In Oregon, voters in two coastal counties overwhelmingly voted to reject offshore wind in a non-binding resolution.
  • In Maine, the small town of Harpswell might’ve gone for vice president Kamala Harris – but it also rejected opening land to a small solar farm.
  • Heatmap did a full accounting of climate and energy races across the country. Take a gander!

2. Michigan lawsuit watch – Michigan has a serious lawsuit brewing over its law taking some control of renewable energy siting decisions away from municipalities.

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