Phoenix, AZ – In a hearing today, the Arizona Power Plant and Line Siting Committee voted 9-2 to deny Unisource Electric’s (UNSE) request that the utility’s planned 200 MW expansion of its Black Mountain Generating Station in Mohave County be exempted from obtaining a certificate of environmental compatibility (CEC), a process that requires weighing environmental impacts against the need for a power plant. The Committee’s vote upholds the requirement that new gas-fired power plants must undergo environmental review via the CEC process.
SALEM, Ore. — Climate, environmental justice, and community-led social justice organizations filed testimony yesterday detailing a litany of cost, climate, and equity objections to a proposed rate hike from NW Natural, Oregon’s largest gas utility.
SALEM, Ore. — Oregon regulators will hold a public comment hearing Tuesday, April 16, on NW Natural's proposal to raise utility bills for gas customers by 18% starting next year.
ALBANY, NY -- Today, the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) declined to approve the 20-year long-term gas plan from National Fuel Gas Distribution Corporation of Western New York (NFG), requiring a number of modifications including ending incentives for gas expansion, proposing a gas demand response program, and developing pilot projects to compare cold-climate air-source heat pumps and hybrid heating systems. However, the order failed to rule on the appropriateness of numerous aspects of NFG’s plan including its limited contribution to the emission reductions required by New York’s climate law. The PSC also failed to rule on the outsized role of alternative fuels such as “renewable” natural gas and hydrogen in NFG’s plan and how to properly account for the emissions of these fuels.
More than 70 climate, health and consumer organizations have called for utilities across the nation to leave the American Gas Association (AGA) over their efforts to block climate policies and proliferate disinformation about the health risks of gas stove pollution. AGA receives millions in annual dues from utilities across the country, primarily paid for through customer bills.
HARTFORD, CT. -- Sierra Club, alongside 238 Connecticut residents, has submitted public comment to the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) calling on the State to replace the aging Capitol Area System with a 100 percent clean, renewable energy alternative. Other local environmental and climate justice groups have similarly weighed in on the fossil fuel plant’s future.
BOSTON, MA. – On Tuesday June 6, nine influential state environmental groups hosted a well-attended legislative briefing covering bills that, if passed, will establish a moratorium on new, large gas infrastructure and a climate change superfund of $75 billion over 25 years from profits of Massachusetts’ big corporate polluters.
NEW YORK – On Thursday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the 2023-2024 State Budget into law. Notably, the budget marks the passage of a first-of-its-kind statewide fossil fuel ban in new construction starting in 2026. The budget also includes $400 million in funding for the Environmental Protection Fund, the addition of over 265 jobs across multiple environmental agencies, and other environmental victories.
Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists, and Conservation Law Foundation filed a protest on Friday at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), regarding a plan by New England’s grid operator, ISO New England (ISO-NE), that would increase costs to consumers because of the region’s overreliance on methane gas for power generation.
BOSTON, MA - A new report explains how spikes in the price of fossil gas are the cause of the dramatic rise in electricity rates for New England customers.
MUSCLE SHOALS, AL — As the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) continues to plow ahead with plans to replace its Kingston and Cumberland Fossil Plants with new methane gas facilities, concerned community members and environmental organizations attended a TVA listening session before the TVA Board Meeting on February 16th
HARTFORD CT. -- Today, community members, climate justice activists and environmental organizations rallied outside the Capitol District Energy Center (CDECCA) in Hartford. The crowd urged Governor Lamont, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and Department of Administrative Services to replace the 30 year old CDECCA fossil fuel plant with a 100 percent clean and renewable alternative.