Energy

Iowa’s largest investor-owned utility wants to make local owners of private solar power systems pay more for generating their own electricity, while opponents warn that could cause Iowa to lose its standing as a leader in promoting renewables. House Study Bill 185 would add a yearly “sunshine tax” on private solar generators, a move MidAmerican Energy says creates more fairness for all customers who use its electric grid. [node:read-more:link]

After years of rejection, court battles and delays, a four-state transmission line that would connect western Kansas wind farms to the eastern power grid gained approval from the Missouri state agency that regulates public utilities. [node:read-more:link]

A starving whale with 40 kilos (88 pounds) of plastic trash in its stomach has died after being washed ashore in the Philippines, activists said Monday, calling it one of the worst cases of poisoning they have seen. Environmental groups have tagged the Philippines as one of the world's biggest ocean polluters due to its reliance on single-use plastic.That sort of pollution, which is also widespread in other southeast Asian nations, regularly kills wildlife like whales and turtles that ingest the waste. [node:read-more:link]

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, D, on Wednesday signed into law a bipartisan bill that would require Dominion Energy to excavate all the coal ash at their coal plants in the state, over 27 million cubic yards. The bill, first introduced in January, will also require that at least a quarter of the waste be recycled. The remaining ash would have to be moved into fully lined basins to prevent further groundwater contamination. [node:read-more:link]

The EPA granted five additional 2017 small-refinery exemptions (SREs) to the Renewable Fuel Standard on Thursday, raising the agency total for that year to 34, according to an update posted to EPA's online dashboard. The dashboard also indicates it has two more waiver requests pending for that year. Ethanol industry interests, farmers and federal lawmakers were hopeful the agency would change the way it considered waivers under new Administrator Andrew Wheeler. [node:read-more:link]

The Oregon House approved a 10-year ban on fracking to explore for oil and natural gas. Lawmakers voted 42-12 on Monday to prohibit the process, which injects high-pressure liquids into underground rock to extract oil and gas. The measure now goes to the Senate for consideration.There are currently no fracking operations in Oregon. But developers say there’s potential for coalbed methane extraction in the Willamette Valley, which this bill would also block. [node:read-more:link]

Corn and biofuels groups are upset that the Environmental Protection Agency chose March 14, which was National Agriculture Day, to grant five additional Renewable Fuel Standard Small Refinery Exemptions for the 2017 compliance year, waiving 366 million gallons of biofuels from RFS compliance. "EPA's decision today brings the total waivers from 2016 and 2017 RFS obligations to 53, amounting to 2.61 billion ethanol-equivalent gallons. [node:read-more:link]

The National Solar Jobs 2018 tracks solar employment nationwide and state by state. Below is complete information on solar jobs for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico in 2018. [node:read-more:link]

The market impact of small refinery exemptions (SREs) granted under the RFS remains a highly contentious issue.  From a regulatory standpoint, there is no doubt that SREs opened a backdoor mechanism for the EPA to reduce the statutorily-mandated RFS volumes. However, there is sharp disagreement about the impact of SREs on the physical consumption of biofuels, particularly for ethanol.  The ethanol industry has argued vociferously that there has been substantial destruction of demand in the physical ethanol market due to the SREs. [node:read-more:link]

By issuing a pair of vetoes Thursday, Virginia Gov. [node:read-more:link]