Green Energy News

In yet another attack on energy-saving policies, the Trump administration today approved a rule that will make it much more difficult to set new energy efficiency standards for common appliances and equipment — from refrigerators, dishwashers and home furnaces to commercial air conditioners and industrial motors. These standards reduce harmful pollution, save the average US household $500 each year, and according to the administration’s own fact sheet, will save US consumers and businesses about $2 trillion by 2030.

The Department of Energy (DOE) made major changes to its Process Rule that will add new steps to the already lengthy standard-setting process. It will significantly increase the energy savings threshold needed to trigger the process and allow manufacturers to largely design the testing that decides if the products meet standards.

Currently, efficiency standards cover more than  60 categories of appliances and equipment that account for 90% of home energy use and 60% of energy use in commercial buildings. Based on ACEEE’s research, appliance standards are the top US policy for saving energy in buildings.

This rule is the latest in a series of administration attacks on energy efficiency that include a recent rollback of efficiency standards for new light bulbs as well as cars and light trucks.

“These attacks defy the common-sense, bipartisan support that energy efficiency has long enjoyed,” said Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. “They will cost consumers and businesses money, create market uncertainty for businesses due to likely legal challenges, add to harmful pollution, and undermine efforts to address the climate crisis.”

Andrew deLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP), added:

“The Department of Energy designed its new process rule to make it slower and harder to establish energy-saving efficiency standards.  Since this administration has yet to complete any new standard of its own, this rule appears aimed at preventing future administrations from using this time-tested policy for saving energy.”

DOE has now missed 21 legal deadlines for updating standards.

DeLaski continued: “DOE claims they ‘heard the American people’s concerns,’ yet they ignored the comments of nearly 45,000 citizens who took the time to object to DOE proposed rule and the input of a range of energy efficiency supporters. This rule benefits the regulated manufacturers and hurts everyday consumers and the environment.”

Elements of the new process rule that will make it harder and more difficult to set new standards include:

• A minimum savings threshold that will make new standards for many products illegal, even if the standards have zero cost.
• Increased deference to industry developed test procedures, which may emphasize reducing manufacturer costs rather than efficiency ratings that give consumers accurate information.
• Increased deference to standards established by ASHRAE for commercial products, a professional society in which manufacturers have a strong voice, rather than those developed by DOE.
• A pre-rulemaking process that can lead to a decision to not conduct a rulemaking
• Requirement that DOE “cover” products before setting standards. Since “coverage” preempts state standards, this provision sets up a process for DOE to preempt the states without issuing any federal standard for a product.
• Requirement that DOE re-start the standards rulemaking process whenever the test procedure is amended. This provision could handcuff the agency, forcing a choice between a more accurate test procedure or more delay.
• Requirement that DOE re-start the standards rulemaking process whenever more products are included within the scope of a regulation, once again forcing a choice between including products that logically should be part of a rule, or more delay.
• A mandate that makes the process rule legally binding in all instances, which will create endless litigation further tying up future standards.

 

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy acts as a catalyst to advance energy efficiency policies, programs, technologies, investments, and behaviors.

A late surge of offshore wind farm financings in the fourth quarter helped make 2019 a record year for the sector, while total investments in wind power capacity rose 6% year on year, according to new figures.

A 100MW wind farm has secured priority access to the grid with a zero-subsidy bid in Lithuania's first renewable energy tender.

A couple of goats scamper down San Miguelito Road as George Bedford slowly drives in the opposite direction. He says it’s not the first time he’s seen animals on this road, before pointing to a spot where he once passed a mountain lion. Only a few miles south of Lompoc, the area feels worlds away. Bedford and his wife, Cheryl, purchased more than 400 acres of land on top of one of the hills surrounding San Miguelito Canyon in the . . .

GRAFTON – Voters in this small town, which in 2016 rejected a large industrial wind project, have endorsed a new town plan that prohibits industrial and commercial wind. On a 95-66 vote during an all-day ballot Monday, residents approved the new town plan, which bans any large wind facility, and includes other planning updates. “We now have a town plan, after the Windham Regional Commission has given its final approval, that tracks the wishes of the voters and is compliant with . . .

A long-brewing storm developed into a Category 5 hurricane at the Town of Sanford board meeting Tuesday night as tempers flared and a portion of the session turned into a raucous yelling match between a board member and wind farm opponents. Emotions boiled over when the town board refused to challenge the state’s decision to site a 124-megawatt wind turbine installation in eastern Broome County. In an often nasty exchange, council member Alice Ray, in a raised voice, called out . . .

Opponents of the potential introduction of wind turbines in the St. Joseph area expressed their views Wednesday night at the Buchanan County Courthouse. The setting was a public hearing, summoned by the Buchanan County Commission, as a precursor to a decision the panel will need to make on a proposed wind energy ordinance. The ordinance deals with the placement of wind turbines around the county, and has been studied in recent months by the Planning and Zoning Commission. The board . . .

Wind farms installed offshore to tackle climate change are actually threatening thousands of endangered seabirds around the UK, according to the RSPB. The bird charity says new wind farms could be the ‘final nail in the coffin’ for more than 1,000 birds across four of the most threatened species. Many of these birds feed on fish at sandbanks, where developers prefer to build offshore wind turbines. There are more than 15 proposed UK offshore wind farms, which tend to be . . .

CLARINDA – The Page County Board of Supervisors decided 1,500 feet is far enough. A month after two public hearings gathering comments and opinions about the county’s wind turbine ordinance, in which setback distances were a common theme, supervisors agreed Tuesday they won’t change the distance. “Sixteen-hundred feet setback is the most or companies won’t come in,” said Supervisor Jon Herzberg. Speculating wind turbines will be built in Page County, the supervisors approved a list of rules and regulations in October . . .

POTTSVILLE – The Schuylkill County Planning Commission on Wednesday received a draft for a curative amendment to the county’s zoning ordinance. That amendment adds definitions and revises regulations regarding wind turbines, medical marijuana facilities and compressor stations. Commission members decided they would study the draft and set a date for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29, to meet with the zoning and land use consultant hired by the county who drafted the amendment, Charlie Schmehl, of Bethlehem. Members offered no comment Wednesday . . .

FREWSBURG–The Carroll Town Board has been advised to pursue future legislation regulating potential industrial wind turbine projects. Chautauqua County Health Board President Tom Erlandson addressed newly-elected Carroll Town Supervisor Russell Payne and those in attendance for a town board meeting on Wednesday evening on the issue. “These projects are happening in communities where we under New York state public health law are charged with protecting the health of our residents,” Erlandson said, quoting from a letter that was sent to . . .

Firefighters have been called out to a “distressed dog” trapped in a wind turbine in East Yorkshire. Six Humberside Fire and Rescue crew members from the Howden team descended on the huge structure in Eastrington after reports of an animal was trapped inside it. A disc cutter had to be used to cut their way into turbine after being called by a concerned member of the public, however, all was not as it first seemed. Despite the team and the . . .

The recent interest regarding the new majority of the Farmersville Town Board’s alleged violation of the open meetings law, for meeting with an attorney prior to the Jan. 6 meeting, is astonishing. If not exempt, the OML applies to a quorum meeting of a public body discussing public business. However, two OML exemptions apply – any matter made “confidential” by law and same-party political committee deliberations, like caucuses, without regard to the discussed matters. Not all members of the same political . . .

A South Dakota board approved more than $13 million of reinvestment payments to four wind projects Wednesday. The state Board of Economic Development also made a loan of $787,500 to Advanced Ag Products. The Canton company blends feed for poultry and swine. The reinvestment payments are allowed under a state law that lets projects get back some or all of their state sales and use taxes. A related law requires the board to consider whether the project would have happened . . .

A Karlstad man plans to apply for a variance on an existing conditional use permit, which would allow him to get a wind turbine blade salvage operation up and running. Troy Peterson visited with the Kittson County Commission on Tuesday, Dec. 31 during its final meeting of the year. He was going to start breaking down turbine blades on property in Deerwood Township where he has a conditional use permit for a salvage operation. However, having not met the conditions . . .

Wind farms built to tackle climate change could be the “final nail in the coffin” for sea birds, the RSPB has warned as it publishes a new report into their feeding hotspots. The UK is a globally crucial place for these birds, as it contains 8 million breeding pairs. They are in fast decline – seabirds have faced a 70 per cent drop worldwide since the 1970s, and numbers continue to fall. When the birds feed, they fly out to . . .

Mayflower Wind still doesn’t have a final contract for its offshore wind farm off the coast of Nantucket, but it appears to be moving ahead with the project anyway in a bid to tap federal investment tax credits. A press release issued by a joint venture of two Danish companies on Wednesday indicated Mayflower has hired them to build a 1,200 megawatt offshore substation. “The offshore substation project will be initiated in January 2020,” says the press release put out . . .

The Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) passed four resolutions during their first meeting of 2020 on January 7, two of which denied conditional use permit applications submitted by the Lucky Star and Two Rivers wind energy projects. Both wind energy projects are being pursued by BlueEarth Renewables out of Calgary, Canada. As was reported previously (see “Coming to an understanding” on page 9 of the August 21, 2019 Saratoga Sun), both projects were to be constructed on a mixture . . .

The views enjoyed while driving along U.S. Highway 287 south of Laramie could include an array of wind turbines if the Rail Tie Wind Project is completed as planned. ConnectGen, a renewable energy development company based out of Houston, Texas, has started the permitting stages of constructing a 504-megawatt wind farm stretching across public and private land on both sides of the highway. The project would encompass 26,000-acres close to Tie Siding. Specific details like the exact number, model and . . .

A hearing was held last week in a lawsuit filed against county commissioners over conditional use permits granted to a wind farm company working to build turbines in the southern portion of the county. At that hearing, district judge Steven Hornbaker set a deadline for all sides of the lawsuit to provide information requested by the others and set April 7 for a second hearing. Although Randy Eitzen and 70 other plaintiffs filed the lawsuit Aug. 14 against Marion County . . .