For States, $48 Million to Help Cut Emissions
New York Times
Two charitable groups will spend $48 million over the next three years to help states figure out how to reduce emissions from electricity production, an effort to seize the possibilities that are opening up as the cost of clean power falls.
Half the money will come from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable organization set up by Michael R. Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City, and half will come from Mark Heising and Elizabeth Simons, a California couple who have taken a strong interest in reducing the risks of climate change.
In interviews, people involved in the project said the goal was to provide technical assistance, including economic forecasting and legal analysis, for a dozen or so states that are willing to consider ambitious clean-energy plans.
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New Congress poised to make 2015 ‘Year of Energy’
The Hill
For the 114th Congress, 2015 could be the year of energy. New faces on Capitol Hill pave the way for Congress to support pro-market energy policies that languished in legislative purgatory under former Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). As its first order of business, the new Congress has taken up the Keystone XL pipeline. The pipeline deserves swift approval, but it is just one of many energy issues that will fill up the congressional calendar in the coming months.
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Water, Wastewater Plants Waiting to Tap Into Energy Resilience Bank
NJ Spotlight
New Jersey’s newly formed Energy Resilience Bank is finding no shortage of applicants from water and wastewater-treatment plants that want to take advantage of a pool of money to help minimize the impact of extreme weather, such as Hurricane Sandy. So far, the bank has $150 million in projects in the pipeline seeking to tap into $65 million set aside to make those facilities more resilient, according to Mitch Carpen, its executive director. Other facilities, particularly hospitals, are lining up to receive funding from the overall $200 million the federal government has allocated to New Jersey to reduce outages affecting critical facilities throughout the state.
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West Virginia Moves to Repeal Renewable Mandate
POWER Magazine
In a dramatic move that passed the state Legislature with little debate and almost no opposition, West Virginia lawmakers on Jan. 22 voted to repeal the state’s 2009 renewables portfolio standard (RPS), which requires utilities to get 25% of their power from alternative sources by 2025…
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Obama Taps Budget Official to Replace John Podesta in White House Inner Circle
National Journal
Brian Deese, a senior White House budget aide, will replace the outgoing John Podesta as a top adviser to President Obama with a special focus on implementing Obama’s climate-change and energy agenda in his final two years.
“As a part of his new role, Deese will take over the climate and energy portfolio that Podesta has handled—which will be one of the President’s top priorities for the remainder of his term,” a White House official said of Deese…
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Rutgers partners with BPU for energy efficiency upgrades
Courier Post Online
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Wednesday approved incentives totaling approximately $1.15 million for Rutgers University to implement energy efficiency technology upgrades at 36 university locations. The incentives, provided through New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program will make possible total investment of nearly $1.5 million in upgrades in Camden, New Brunswick, Newark and Piscataway. The measures are expected to result in annual energy savings of approximately $617,424.
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Energy highlights from State of the Union:
http://energy.gov/articles/watch-energy-highlights-state-union
