Solar charging from a church and a jump in battery capacity. News digest from the USA

The United States of America is a country where green technologies grow especially fast and even bold startups find investors.

This is just some of the news from the renewable energy industry, but it also demonstrates that this industry is developing at a frantic pace in the United States with huge budgets. And the government is actively promoting it.

Solar energy

The owners of a dilapidated building in Oklahoma have announced plans to rebuild and install solar panels on the roof, with a separate photovoltaic panel for each apartment.
Detroit authorities have selected three neighborhoods as potential sites for solar projects. In addition, residents of five other neighborhoods will have the opportunity to sell their homes as the number of such sites expands.

Wind energy

New York’s power grid operator has received four applications to build a network of up to 8 GW of offshore wind farms to transmit electricity to New York City, most of which will be connected to the Brooklyn Clean Energy Center.
In New Jersey, the developer of the Atlantic Shores offshore wind project is selecting a contractor to expand a substation in Egg Harbor Township to accommodate the project’s 1.5 GW of electricity.

Energy storage systems

Michigan utility Consumers Energy signs a 20-year agreement to use a 100 MW battery storage facility.
In the first quarter of 2024, the installation of energy storage capacity jumped by 84% in the United States compared to the previous year, with energy companies’ storage capacity more than doubling.
A group of churches is partnering with Entergy to build “community lighthouses” around New Orleans, where solar panels will charge backup batteries in case of a power outage.

Climate

Eight small cities in Minnesota will receive government grants to prepare for extreme weather caused by climate change.
A group of climate scientists argue that the carbon market needs significant oversight and reform after finding that many offset markets have failed to deliver the promised climate benefits.
California’s increasingly clean energy mix proves that the rest of the country’s grid can be powered by 100% clean energy sources, climate activists say.
A legal analysis by an advocacy group shows that Arizona could reasonably bring murder charges against the fossil fuel industry for hundreds of deaths caused by the 2023 heat wave, which was exacerbated by climate change.

Politics

Business leaders in Columbus, Georgia, said they will build out the higher education system and free up land in hopes of capitalizing on a $32 billion clean energy boom that is expected to be invested in through 2021. A new state office in Michigan is launching to help manufacturers who have suffered losses from the transition to renewable energy, support clean energy training, and diversify the state’s energy supply chain.
The US Department of Agriculture has announced $375 million in funding for renewable energy projects in rural areas, including $275 million for electrification using renewable energy sources.
The US Department of Energy has announced $63.5 million to four companies developing “transformative” energy technologies.
Louisiana regulators allowed a coalition of 26 companies to buy electricity from non-profit sources after they said they were frustrated by the lack of affordable renewable energy sources.
Massachusetts senators are pushing a bill that would lower electricity bills while increasing renewable energy development, ban competitive electricity providers, and simplify permitting for energy projects and electric vehicle chargers.
Pennsylvania lawmakers are pushing a bill to restructure the state’s energy agency to allow it to use federal funds to develop energy projects.
Federal government officials in the 1940s and 1950s applauded the destruction of salmon fisheries and the tribal peoples who depended on them by Northwest hydroelectric dams.