Annapolis, MD - Today, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) released its Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act Plan. Under the 2016 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act Reauthorization (GGRA) the plan was required to be submitted to the Governor and the General Assembly by December 31, 2019. Secretary Ben Grumbles from the MDE has stated that, if implemented, the nearly 280-page plan would reduce Maryland’s greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 50% below 2006 levels by 2030.
Sierra Club statement on the winter storm sweeping the Midwest and Southern States
“Necesitamos cambio. Un gran número de plantas energéticas de carbón y gas no pudieron operar durante este tiempo extremo. Y mientras que algunas fuentes renovables también quedaron fuera de servicio, la energía limpia resultó ser más fiable que los combustibles fósiles durante esta crisis.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK -- The Oklahoma State Legislature reconvened on Monday, February 1, amidst the COVID pandemic, an ever-worsening climate crisis, and national conversations about racial and environmental justice.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- Earlier today, the Sierra Club submitted its comments on Xcel’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC). While Xcel’s IRP includes some actions that are vital to reaching 100% carbon free electricity by 2040 or sooner, it also contains proposals that would make it impossible for them to achieve that goal. Most critically, Xcel has refused to reconsider its ill-advised proposal to build a new 800 MW combined cycle methane gas plant in 2027 (“Sherco CC”).
Washington, DC -- Today, Bank of America announced a new commitment to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in its financing activities, operations and supply chain before 2050, and released an updated environmental policy.
The Illinois Pollution Control Board’s February 5th revisions to coal ash regulations proposed by the Illinois EPA make progress towards rectifying coal's dirty legacy in Illinois, but more can be done, said several environmental groups.
SAN ANTONIO — Today at a Special Meeting of CPS Energy Board of Trustees, CPS Energy voted to release the January 2021 Flexible Path Resource Plan (Plan) that outlines two potential scenarios to phase out coal from San Antonio’s energy mix before 2030. This development comes after the CPS Energy Board voted to withhold the public report at the last regularly scheduled Board meeting on January 25, 2021. Since then community advocates and even San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg all called for the rapid release of the report.
Duke notes that Allen Unit 3, which started operating in Gaston County in 1959, “has reached the end of its useful life” and “will no longer provide economic and reliable commercial service to customers.”
Richmond, VA -- Last night, Virginia’s State Corporation Commission (SCC) not only rejected Dominion Energy’s Integrated Resources Plan (IRP) that would cost consumers millions of dollars and needlessly further reliance on dirty and uneconomic fossil fuel infrastructure but is requiring Dominion to address the environmental justice impacts of its various resource plans. The IRP is a 15-year plan projecting future energy demand, costs, and how Dominion proposes to meet customer’s energy needs and the Commonwealth’s clean energy requirements.
ANNAPOLIS, MD - Today, landmark coal transition legislation sponsored by Senator Chris West (R - District 42), Senator Brian Feldman (D - District 15), Delegate Benjamin Brooks (D - District 10) & Delegate Kumar Barve (D - District 17) will be heard by the Senate Finance Committee starting at 1 pm.
Sun Prairie, WI -- This morning, Alliant Energy subsidiary Wisconsin Power and Light (WPL) announced plans to retire the two units at the Columbia coal plant -- which Alliant Energy co-owns with Madison Gas & Electric and Wisconsin Public Service -- in 2023 and 2024, a move that will result in Alliant Energy being coal-free in Wisconsin more than 15 years earlier than the company’s previous commitment. Today’s announcement is the result of Alliant Energy’s comprehensive resource planning process, in which Sierra Club and other stakeholders began participating in 2019, and continued collaborative discussions. Alliant Energy’s planning process was the first of its kind in Wisconsin, and included economic analysis of the company’s coal plants compared to clean energy resources like solar, wind and battery storage, which resulted in its “Clean Energy Blueprint” plan. The decision to retire the Columbia plant early is a significant step forward for the Blueprint, and follows Alliant Energy’s decision last year to retire the Edgewater coal plant in 2022 and invest in 1,000 MW of solar by 2023.