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AEP offers utility customers $10, 000 rebate to buy electric car
by James Kotcon via EC 26 May '17

26 May '17

Wonder if they would do that in WV? What a great way to spur off-peak electricity consumption! JBK http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170525/aep-customers-offered-10000-rebate-if… [http://www.dispatch.com/storyimage/OH/20170525/NEWS/170528998/AR/0/AR-17052…]<http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170525/aep-customers-offered-10000-rebate-if…> AEP customers offered $10,000 rebate if they buy Nissan Leaf<http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170525/aep-customers-offered-10000-rebate-if…> www.… [View More]

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(no subject)
by William V. DePaulo, Esq. via EC 29 Apr '17

29 Apr '17

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-colorado-wells-20170428-story…

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Fw: more first eneryg problems
by James Kotcon via EC 24 Apr '17

24 Apr '17

This news story suggests that court verdicts expected in Pennsylvania Tuesday could lead to a bankruptcy filing by First Energy. Should we be following this? I tend to agree that FE's closure of the Hatfields Ferry plant, and perhaps others, was an effort to blame EPA's mercury rules for the closure, when it was, in reality, poor management decisions. The mercury rules would not have required closure before 2015, so why were those plants closed in 2012. Jim Kotcon … [View More]

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Fw: Judge slams FERC's climate review
by James Kotcon via EC 19 Apr '17

19 Apr '17

Very important case, as this will set precedents here for the MVP and ACP. Jim Kotcon ________________________________ From: stop-pipelines-wvva(a)googlegroups.com <stop-pipelines-wvva(a)googlegroups.com> on behalf of Lorne Stockman <lorne(a)priceofoil.org> Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2017 10:33 AM To: Stop The Pipelines WVVA Subject: Judge slams FERC's climate review Judge slams FERC's climate review Ellen M. Gilmer<https://www.eenews.net/staff/Ellen_M_Gilmer>, E&E … [View More]News reporter Published: Tuesday, April 18, 2017[Pipelines] Judges have questioned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s climate analysis approach for pipelines. Photo by Bilfinger SE, courtesy of Flickr. A panel of judges grilled the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission today on its approach to studying climate impacts from natural gas pipelines. The case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit centered on a project in the Southeast, but Judge Judith Rogers spent much of today's oral arguments airing broader concerns about FERC's typical treatment of downstream greenhouse gas emissions. "FERC just doesn't have to do its duty because it thinks someone else will," she said, responding to the agency's argument that many downstream impacts fall under the jurisdiction of other agencies. The Sierra Club and other environmental groups filed the lawsuit last year, challenging FERC's decision to issue certificates for the Southeast Market Pipelines Project, which includes the Florida Southeast, Hillabee Expansion and Sabal Trail projects. The groups say FERC violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to adequately consider downstream climate impacts and the effects on environmental justice for communities along the project's route. Sierra Club attorney Elly Benson argued today that FERC had tools available to conduct the downstream greenhouse gas analysis — and was prodded by U.S. EPA to use them — but ultimately opted for a less-detailed approach. "There's no reason to not engage in reasonable forecasting," she told the panel, which included Rogers, a Clinton appointee, and Judges Janice Rogers Brown and Thomas Griffith, both George W. Bush appointees. FERC attorney Ross Fulton pushed back, noting that the agency conducted a more general downstream analysis that concluded the project would not significantly contribute to cumulative greenhouse gas impacts because power plants receiving natural gas from the pipelines were switching from coal, which emits more carbon dioxide. "And the commission found that it could rely upon the plants being subject to federal and state air permitting processes for pertinent emissions and mitigation requirements and that these permitting bodies are best positioned to receive relevant air quality information," FERC told the court in a brief earlier this year. Moreover, he said, the agency determined that the linkage between the pipelines and the power plants was not direct enough to merit closer FERC review, as the commission has no control over how the natural gas is used. Brown seemed receptive to that argument, but Rogers jumped on it, noting that contracts with end-users have already been signed. "When would FERC ever have enough information and enough certainty" to look more closely at downstream greenhouse gas emissions, she asked. She also rejected the notion that the case was analogous to other D.C. Circuit decisions that held FERC had no obligation to conduct in-depth downstream analyses because other agencies held the keys to final approval. In last year's EarthReports Inc. v. FERC, for example, the D.C. Circuit ruled that FERC was not required to consider indirect effects of increased liquefied natural gas exports from a FERC-licensed facility because the Department of Energy alone has authority to increase exports. In today's case, Rogers said, FERC has final authority over the Southeast projects. Griffith also appeared skeptical of FERC's position, asking Fulton and counsel for industry intervenors why they were so resistant to the idea of attempting to quantify downstream emissions. "It wouldn't have been hard to do, right, with all that information available?" he asked Fulton. Fulton responded that "it would not have been hard to do, but it would have been hard to do in a meaningfully informative way," because it is difficult to estimate how much of the project's natural gas would be used to replace coal in power plants. The environmental groups are asking the court to vacate the certificates and remand to FERC. Twitter: @ellengilmer<https://twitter.com/ellengilmer> Email: egilmer(a)eenews.net<mailto:egilmer@eenews.net> Lorne Stockman Senior Research Analyst Oil Change International 714 G Street SE, Suite 202 Washington, DC 20003 P: 1 540 679 1097 W: priceofoil.org<http://www.priceofoil.org/> FB: /priceofoil<http://www.facebook.com/priceofoil> T: @priceofoil<https://twitter.com/priceofoil> -- @LorneStockman<https://twitter.com/LorneStockman> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Stop The Pipelines WVVA" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to stop-pipelines-wvva+unsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com<mailto:stop-pipelines-wvva+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com>. To post to this group, send email to stop-pipelines-wvva(a)googlegroups.com<mailto:stop-pipelines-wvva@googlegroups.com>. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/stop-pipelines-wvva/CAJjkHJD61UMx4a6s%2Ba…<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/stop-pipelines-wvva/CAJjkHJD61UMx4a6s%2Ba…>. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. [View Less]

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Fw: [MVCAC] EPA Should Not Be Allowed to Dodge Clean Power Plan Ruling, Cities and States Tell Court | InsideClimate News
by James Kotcon via EC 09 Apr '17

09 Apr '17

Very important story on the on-going appeal of the Clean Power Plan. Click the link to read the Environmental Intervenors" brief. Thank you Duane for posting this. Jim Kotcon ________________________________ From: MVCAC <mvcac-bounces(a)osenergy.org> on behalf of Duane via MVCAC <mvcac(a)osenergy.org> Sent: Sunday, April 9, 2017 12:11 AM To: MVCAC(a)osenergy.org Subject: [MVCAC] EPA Should Not Be Allowed to Dodge Clean Power Plan Ruling, Cities and States Tell Court | … [View More]InsideClimate News https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06042017/epa-clean-power-plan-donald-tru… [http://insideclimatenews.org/sites/default/files/DonaldTrump7GettyImages.jpg]<https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06042017/epa-clean-power-plan-donald-tru…> EPA should not be allowed to dodge clean power plan ruling, cities and states tell court<https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06042017/epa-clean-power-plan-donald-tru…> insideclimatenews.org Coalition of states, cities and green groups urges D.C. Court of Appeals to reject Trump administration request to stall decision on cornerstone climate regulations. EPA Should Not Be Allowed to Dodge Clean Power Plan Ruling, Cities and States Tell Court Coalition of states, cities and green groups urges D.C. Court of Appeals to reject Trump administration request to stall decision on cornerstone climate regulations. By John Cushman, Inside Climate News, April 6, 2017 The Trump Administration is seeking to dismantle the Clean Power Plan, the centerpiece of the Obama Administration's climate policies. A coalition of states, cities and environmental groups filed twin briefs on Wednesday accusing the Environmental Protection Agency of trying to "perpetually dodge" court decisions that could keep alive the Clean Power Plan<https://insideclimatenews.org/tags/clean-power-plan>, which the Trump Administration wants to dismantle. They urged the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to reject the administration's new petition to put the Clean Power Plan<https://insideclimatenews.org/news/29032017/clean-power-plan-climate-change…>, the centerpiece of the Obama Administration's climate policies, into an indefinite state of limbo, while the EPA<https://insideclimatenews.org/topic/epa> sends the rule back to the drawing board. The appeals court heard oral arguments in the case months ago and should be ready to rule at any time. A quick ruling could, within a year, put the regulations on the docket of the Supreme Court, which issued a stay in 2016. The tussle over how to proceed now that President Donald Trump<https://insideclimatenews.org/tags/donald-trump> has ordered the EPA to review the Clean Power Plan<https://insideclimatenews.org/news/28032017/trump-executive-order-climate-c…> suggests that those who favor the rule are more eager for an appeals court verdict than those who oppose it. A prolonged delay would "concretely harm" people living in their states, the brief said<https://www.edf.org/sites/default/files/content/2017.04.05_states_opp_to_ab…>—"many of whom have sought for more than a decade to compel EPA to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants." The brief even made a veiled threat that if the courts ultimately rule that states have no recourse under the Clean Air Act to regulate CO2, they might fall back on a tactic that worked for them in the past: suing polluters under common law for the "nuisance" of intense storms, rising seas and damage to public health. That was a reference to an earlier lawsuit, Connecticut v. American Electric Power, which was tossed out when the Supreme Court ruled that the Clean Air Act pre-empted common law. The brief noted that it's not clear how the EPA could even conduct a thorough review of the Clean Power Plan under Trump's latest budget proposals. Recently leaked draft documents<https://insideclimatenews.org/news/03042017/donald-trump-environmental-prot…> describe deep cuts to staff working on climate change, including the score of lawyers working on the Clean Power Plan for the agency's general counsel. In a companion brief<https://www.edf.org/sites/default/files/content/2017.04.05_ngo_opp_to_abeya…>, several environmental groups made similar complaints. The Trump team's motion to put the case in abeyance, they wrote, is an atttempt "to do what it could not do otherwise: effectively and indefinitely suspend a duly promulgated rule without proposing, taking comment on, justifying, or defending in court any legal or factual premises that might support such a result." The briefs cited extensive precedents for rejecting the Trump argument. But one might carry particular weight: a ruling on April 3, when the Supreme Court itself rejected a comparable request for an abeyance on a different rule, under the Clean Water Act. "An order mothballing this case would leave our millions of members with no federal protections in place from this dangerous pollution with long-term impacts," the green groups pleaded. "Moreover, the combination of the judicial stay and abeyance would leave scant incentive for EPA to act." Duane Nichols, Cell- 304-216-5535, www.FrackCheckWV.net<http://www.FrackCheckWV.net> [View Less]

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FE Sells part of Hatfields Ferry for a gas plant
by James Kotcon via EC 07 Apr '17

07 Apr '17

First Energy announced, April 5, the sale of 33 acres and the two cooling towers at the Hatfields Ferry power plant for $40 million to APV Renaissance Partners of New Jersey. APV announced plans to build a 1000 MW gas-fired power plant at the site. http://www.observer-reporter.com/20170405/company_reveals_plans_for_natural… http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/prnewswire/press_releases/Pennsylvani… I suspect that, if the cooling towers are gone, FE will not be re-opening Hatfields … [View More]

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U.S. coal companies ask Trump to stick with Paris climate deal
by James Kotcon via EC 06 Apr '17

06 Apr '17

Who'd a thunk it! JBK Remaining in the global deal to combat climate change will give U.S. negotiators a chance to advocate for coal in the future of the global energy mix, coal companies like Cloud Peak Energy Inc and Peabody Energy Corp told White House officials over the past few weeks, according to executives and a U.S. official familiar with the discussions. "The future is foreign markets, so the last thing you want to do if you are a coal company is to give up a U.S. seat in the … [View More]

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Fw: PJM
by James Kotcon via EC 03 Apr '17

03 Apr '17

Interesting article from John. This will have implications for the Pleasants transfer. Comments from Cathy Kunkel at last week's event in Morgantown. Although FE is projecting a "Capacity shortfall", PJM apparently does not. It would be helpful to understand the source of that, but I did not get a chance to talk to Cathy about the technical details. Second comment, at a recent talk to the Morgantown Rotary Club, one audience member (with strong gas industry connections) insisted that … [View More]

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Hatfields Ferry site for a gas-fired power plant (was: update Mar 8
by James Kotcon via EC 08 Mar '17

08 Mar '17

Anybody seen or heard anything about this one? JBK ________________________________ From: Betty Wiley <betty.w304(a)gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 8, 2017 8:46 AM To: Potomac Water Watch; bpallay(a)comcast.net; brian_bliss(a)hotmail.com; ceh65471(a)windstream.net; meg daniels; curtis.n.meeder(a)usace.army.mil; dhopey(a)post-gazette.com; ed.presley(a)hotmail.com; ejdennis(a)hotmail.com; fredam999(a)gmail.com; GCWA Admin; kathleen martincic; James Kotcon; Jim O'Connell; keith.… [View More]

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Fwd: [GW-ACT-LEADERS] 2016 U.S. Electricity
by James Kotcon via EC 03 Mar '17

03 Mar '17

Ned Ford is a long-time Sierra energy expert in Ohio. He is the kind of guy whose quantitative energy analyses make me look petty and shallow by comparison. Key take-home message: Coal-fired generation dropped 8.5 % in 2016, compared to 2015. Gas-fired generation replaced less than half of the losses in coal. Renewables and energy efficiency accounted for the majority of the loss in coal-fired generation. So when the industry tries to tell you that it is gas that is displacing coal, the … [View More]data show that it is actually Clean Energy that is winning! Jim Kotcon ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ned Ford <Ned.Ford(a)fuse.net> Date: Thu, Mar 2, 2017 at 9:36 PM Subject: [GW-ACT-LEADERS] 2016 U.S. Electricity To: CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAIRS(a)lists.sierraclub.org Hi Folks, Here are some preliminary numbers for 2016. EIA just released these last Friday, so they are very fresh, although a few people have seen some of this coming by watching the monthly reports. U.S. coal generation fell from 33.18% of total generation to 30.4% of generation. That's an 8.5% reduction in coal use. Natural gas generation rose from 32.66% of total generation to 33.84%. Natural gas is officially the largest source of electric generation in the U.S. Note that the increase of natural gas was only 42.51% of the decrease of coal. Wind and solar made up most of the difference. Efficiency caused the rest of the decrease and more, as follows. Wind increased from 4.67% of total generation to 5.55%. Solar increased from 0.94% of total generation to 1.38%. EIA started estimating the amount of distributed (behind-the-meter) generation in the U.S. three years ago, but this estimate is utility-scale solar only. The two previous years where EIA estimated distributed solar varied a lot, so I'm happy to guess that total solar is about 35% larger than this reported value, but don't anyone quote that. They reported their estimate for 2016, but I haven't taken the time to find it and plug it into my spreadsheet. Efficiency is impossible to measure accurately. It is much large than most people think. My approach pegs U.S. electric utility efficiency at a rate of new savings of about 1.7% in 2016. But that obscures the fact that what actually happened in 2016 was that cumulative efficiency programs and efficiency standards eliminated something more than ten percent of total electricity consumption which would have happened without the efficiency. In other words, efficiency has eliminated all new growth since the Great Recession. It has also saved several tens of billions of dollars per year. U.S. electricity spending in 2016 was $381 billion (down $10 billion from 2015). It is also impossible to know exactly how much growth would have happened without the efficiency, but it is a safe bet that that $10 billion in savings was due to efficiency. Without efficiency there would probably have been more growth, and the savings are probably larger. To accurately estimate efficiency savings you must decide on a start year. Or you can do as I have done here, and estimate savings for a single year - somewhere between $38 billion and perhaps $48 billion. Skip Laitner testified to Congress in 2006 or 2007 that efficiency had added 77% of all new capacity to U.S. energy from 1970 to 2005. That is all fuels, and includes the substantial savings caused by the CAFE standards. But it also gives a sense of the power and importance of efficiency. I can get into details of all of this, but I find that there is very little interest in the fine grained info. I encourage anyone who is interested in solving climate change to contact me for updated information about our efficiency programs in Ohio. They are hardly the strongest in the nation, but we have eliminated over 8% of utility carbon in seven years as of the end of 2015. I'm going to update the Ohio numbers after I post this message. Our Ohio programs have created about $10 billion in savings, $6 billion of which have been realized and $4 billion of which are assured by installed hardware with remaining useful life. Most states don't produce the sort of data which is necessary to do this sort of calculation accurately, so the Ohio experience is important in that it is an example of how powerful efficiency is, and how much money it saves. - Ned * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * To unsubscribe from the CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAIRS list, send any message to CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAIRS-signoff-request(a)lists.sierraclub.org <CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAIRS-signoff-request@lists.sierraclub.org?subject=Unsubscribe+from+CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAIRS&body=SIGNOFF+CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAIRS>, or visit Listserv online <http://LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?SUBED1=CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAI…>. For Listserv basics, technical tips, and community guidelines, check out our General FAQ <http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq>. Listserv content is subject to the Sierra Club's Email List Policy <http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/policy> and Terms and Conditions <http://www.sierraclub.org/terms>. [View Less]

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