Category: Energy

15 December 2022

The California Energy Commission (CEC) approved a $2.9-billion investment plan that accelerates California’s 2025 electric vehicle (EV) charging and hydrogen refueling goals. The funds will support the deployment of thousands of zero-emission trucks, school buses and transit buses to deliver clean air benefits to communities hit hardest by the impacts of pollution from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.

The 2022-2023 Investment Plan Update increases funding for the CEC’s Clean Transportation Program by 30 times compared to 2019 with an additional $2.4 billion from the recent state budget that will be spent over the next four years and with at least 50% targeted to benefit priority populations.

CEC staff estimates the plan will result in 90,000 new EV chargers across the state, more than double the 80,000 chargers installed today. Combined with funding from utilities and other programs, these investments are expected to ensure the state achieves its goal to deploy 250,000 chargers by 2025.

This transformative investment will deploy charging and refueling infrastructure swiftly and equitably to make sure drivers of zero-emission cars and trucks feel confident they can refuel wherever they go. The plan will increase access to charging and hydrogen fueling for individuals, businesses and public agencies, while supporting our emerging manufacturing ecosystem and creating jobs. Most importantly, it provides critical funding to support the move away from dirty trucks and buses that have burdened our most vulnerable communities for too long.

One of the Largest Electric Vehicle Fleets in the Nation
Initiative Boosted by Postal Service “Delivering for America” Network Modernization and Funding from Congress

-January 1,2023-

The US Postal Service anticipates increasing the quantity of purpose-built Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDV) to a minimum of 60,000 of which at least 45,000 will be battery electric by 2028. NGDV acquisitions delivered in 2026 and thereafter expected to be 100% electric.
Postal Service expects to purchase an additional 21,000 battery electric delivery vehicles through 2028, representing a mix of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) vehicles. Acquisitions delivered in 2026 through 2028 expected to be 100% electric.
Feasibility of achieving 100% electrification for the overall Postal Service delivery vehicle fleet will continue to be explored.
Beyond vehicle mix changes, postal network modernization efforts will drive additional substantial carbon reductions through logistics improvements and reduced transportation
Total investment expected to reach $9.6 billion including $3 billion from Inflation Reduction Act funds.
WASHINGTON — The United States Postal Service today announced that it expects to acquire at least 66,000 battery electric delivery vehicles as part of its 106,000 vehicle acquisition plan for deliveries between now and 2028. The vehicles purchased as part of this anticipated plan will begin to replace the Postal Service’s aging delivery fleet of over 220,000 vehicles.

The Postal Service anticipates at least 60,000 Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDV), of which at least 75% (45,000) will be battery electric. As part of this plan, a total of 21,000 additional commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) vehicles are also expected to be battery electric, depending on market availability and operational feasibility. The Postal Service also anticipates including internal combustion vehicles necessary to meet immediate vehicle replacement needs.

In keeping with the Postal Service’s priority to provide its carriers and communities with safer, more efficient vehicles as soon as possible, these vehicles will, unlike the vehicles they are replacing, feature air conditioning and advanced safety technology and are more suited to modern day operational requirements. For any COTS vehicles purchased, the Postal Service will include a preference for domestic manufacturing.

Today’s announcement is enabled by the Postal Service’s overall network modernization efforts which allows for a more rapid deployment of EVs, and its improving financial condition which includes $3 billion in congressional funding appropriated under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

The Postal Service will continue to evaluate and procure vehicles over shorter time periods to be more responsive to its evolving operational strategy, technology improvements, and changing market conditions, including the expected increased availability of BEV options in the future.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy commented, “We have a statutory requirement to deliver mail and packages to 163 million addresses six days per week and to cover our costs in doing so – that is our mission. As I have said in the past, if we can achieve those objectives in a more environmentally responsible way, we will do so.”

“The Postal Service’s vehicle initiative, and I personally, have benefited from the collaborative spirit of John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President and leader of the Office of Energy Innovation, as well as leaders within the Council on Environmental Quality and the Climate Policy Office. These professionals have demonstrated a real appreciation and understanding for how vehicle electrification can be incorporated into the Postal Service’s mission and transformation, while not distracting from it. In our own way we have all been faithful stewards of how IRA funding and Postal funding will be spent.”

“The $3 billion provided by Congress has significantly reduced the risk associated with accelerating the implementation of a nationwide infrastructure necessary to electrify our delivery fleet. While most of the electric vehicle funding will continue to come from Postal Service revenues, we are grateful for the confidence that Congress and the Administration have placed in us to build and acquire what has the potential to become the largest electric vehicle fleet in the nation.”

“What is less widely understood is that our network modernization initiative is necessary to enable this vehicle electrification and will also provide meaningful cost and carbon reductions in other ways. A key focus of our modernization effort is to reduce inefficient transportation and improve distribution operations, resulting in far less air cargo and far fewer truck trips. When combined with our substantial commitment to the electrification of our delivery vehicles, the Postal Service will be at the forefront of our nation’s green initiatives.”

WSJ: US EV sales jump

U.S. electric-vehicle sales leapt by two-thirds in 2022 while the broader auto market contracted, newly released year-end figures show, as fresh plug-in models from traditional auto makers whittled away at EV juggernaut Tesla Inc.’s lead.
Auto makers sold 807,180 fully electric vehicles in the U.S. last year, or 5.8% of all vehicles sold, up from 3.2% a year earlier, according to year-end figures released this week by market-research firm Motor Intelligence. In comparison, total U.S. auto sales fell 8% in 2022 from a year earlier.

-November 9,2022-

From Public Policy Institute of California

Lorelei Oviatt, director of Kern County’s Planning and Natural Resources department, says her county is pretty far along the renewable path, with some 157,000 acres of wind and solar. The county’s solar projects currently hire 90% of their workers locally, she said, but the path forward isn’t necessarily easy. Property and sales tax revenues remain a concern. “All we have is land to produce the money that keeps our libraries open, keeps Meals on Wheels going, and law enforcement [going]. When we lose agriculture, we’re not just losing jobs,” Oviatt said, but also revenue. “Jobs are great,” she said, “but nobody wants to live in a community that doesn’t have services.” Still, Oviatt says, solar does offer the opportunity to “remonetize” lands leaving irrigated production.
Mayor Rey León of Huron concurred with Oviatt, saying that while solar development is attractive, he has some concerns in a traditionally agricultural region. “Acreage that goes out of production is taking out local jobs….There’s some fine-tuning to do to ensure that there’s equity.” Huron is one of the poorest cities in the state of California, and agriculture has been its economic backbone. Now “[l]ettuce season is all but dead.” Training and education, he said, are key to help former agricultural workers and young people make the transition. “Our high schools and community colleges need to…have more resources and provide more opportunities for our kids….These students need to be the engineers, the attorneys within the clean energy industry, the managers, the trade workers. Those are good jobs.”
Dan Kim of Golden State Clean Energy described both the promise and hurdles to solar development in the valley. He said that the company’s current project, Westlands Solar Park, is on track to provide over 1,000 MW of electricity when complete. But the industry has been stymied by rising costs and transmission constraints. “When we started, the interconnection process would take about three years from beginning to end,” he said. “Currently…the timeframe is upwards of almost seven to eight years.”
The difficulty of getting projects online will make it challenging to meet the state’s increasingly ambitious renewable energy needs, Kim said. Not long ago, the state’s needed annual build-out of renewable capacity was estimated at 4,000 MW annually—but that projection was recently raised to 6,000–7,000 MW annually. “That’s going to strain the interconnection timing.”
This is where the state comes in. Erica Brand of the California Energy Commission (CEC) said a suite of generation, energy storage, and transmission investments are needed to achieve SB 100’s goals. “We need a significant build-out of clean energy in the state over the next 25 years in many regions of the state, including the San Joaquin Valley.” While the clean energy transition offers exciting opportunities for the San Joaquin Valley, “we also need to be sure the pathway to achieving SB 100 is affordable, equitable, reliable, and implemented in a way that supports local land-use priorities.” She says the CEC is working to integrate more local land-use data into its planning efforts.

October 20,2022-

If the price of gasoline is the top midterm election issue this November, Democrats can breath a little easier as AAA says the price fell in the past week in competitive election states where the vote is close and people are beginning to vote (as of October 20.)

After climbing for several weeks, across the US, gasoline prices are down. In closely watched competitive election  states where the electorate is divided nearly 50-50 between the GOP and Democrats- like Nevada- prices at the pump are down 20 cents in the past week. Wisconsin is down 18 cents, Texas is 7 cents cheaper this week, Ohio down 13 cents, Georgia down 3 cents while Pennsylvania is up 2 cents.

If voters focus on the short term – its a plus for Democrats while if you remember prices vs last year the news is not so rosy. Prices are up nationwide by 56 cents year over year.

Still, the average price gas across the US has dropped dramatically from earlier this summer says Gas Buddy(see chart)

AAA says as of Oct 17 that domestic gasoline demand decreased as fewer drivers fueled up in the first half of October. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand decreased nationally from 9.47 million b/d to 8.28 million b/d, and total domestic gasoline stocks increased by 2 million bbl to 209.5 million bbl.

Lower gasoline demand, amid increasing supply and fluctuating oil prices, has contributed to the national average moving downward. If demand continues to drop coupled with a slide in oil prices, drivers could see increases in prices at the pump start to slow and even come down through the week.

In California  with an average of $5.875/gal-  the price has now dropped about 55cts/gal in under 2 weeks says oil analyst Tom Kloza.
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The national average pump price for a gallon of gas decreased three cents over the past week to hit $3.88. October 17 national average of $3.88 is 20 cents higher than a month ago and 56 cents more than a year ago.

In the past day President Biden said he would release more oil from the Strategic Oil Reserve to try to bring prices down more.

-October 18,2022-

WASHINGTON — In a new development in the pursuit of a clean energy future, the Department of the Interior today announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will hold an offshore wind energy lease sale on Dec. 6, 2022, for areas on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) off central and northern California.

This will be the first-ever offshore wind lease sale on America’s west coast and the first-ever U.S. sale to support potential commercial-scale floating offshore wind energy development. This sale will be critical to achieving the Biden-Harris administration’s deployment goals of 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy by 2030 and 15 GW of floating offshore wind energy by 2035.

“The demand and momentum to build a clean energy future is undeniable. I am proud of the teams at the Interior Department that are moving forward at the pace and scale required to help achieve the President’s goals to make offshore wind energy, including floating offshore wind energy, a reality for the United States,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “Today, we are taking another step toward unlocking the immense offshore wind energy potential off our nation’s west coast to help combat the effects of climate change while lowering costs for American families and creating good-paying union jobs.”

Among the stipulations announced today, BOEM will offer bidding credits for bidders who enter into community benefit agreements or invest in workforce training or supply chain development; require winning bidders to make efforts to enter into project labor agreements; and require engagement with Tribes, underserved communities, ocean users, and agencies.

In May 2021, Secretary Haaland and California Governor Gavin Newsom joined Biden-Harris administration leaders to announce an agreement to advance areas for wind energy development offshore the northern and central coasts of California. The California sale reflects the leasing path announced last year by Secretary Haaland and last month’s announcement of a new deployment goal of 15 GW of floating offshore wind energy by 2035.

BOEM will offer five California OCS lease areas that total approximately 373,268 acres with the potential to produce over 4.5 GW of offshore wind energy, power more than 1.5 million homes, and support thousands of new jobs.

“Today’s announcement represents years of close coordination and engagement with the state of California, Tribes, ocean users, local communities and all interested parties to move us closer towards achieving the administration’s vision to fight climate change and realizing California’s clean energy future, while creating a domestic supply chain and good-paying union jobs,” said BOEM Director Amanda Lefton, who will deliver remarks this morning at the Offshore WINDPOWER 2022 Conference. “BOEM remains committed to ensuring transparency and active engagement with stakeholders throughout the post-leasing process.”

To date, BOEM has held 10 competitive lease sales and issued 27 active commercial wind leases in the Atlantic Ocean from Massachusetts to North Carolina.

The California Final Sale Notice (FSN), which will publish in the Federal Register later this week, provides detailed information about the final lease areas, lease provisions and conditions, and auction details. It also identifies qualified companies who can participate in the lease auction.

The FSN includes three lease areas off central California and two lease areas off northern California. It also includes several lease stipulations designed to promote the development of a robust domestic U.S. supply chain, advance flexibility in transmission planning, and create good paying union jobs. Among the stipulations announced today, BOEM will offer bidding credits for bidders who enter into community benefit agreements or invest in workforce training or supply chain development; require winning bidders to make efforts to enter into project labor agreements; and require engagement with Tribes, underserved communities, ocean users, and agencies.

On May 26, 2022, the Department announced the Proposed Sale Notice for offshore wind energy development located offshore central and northern California. During the 60-day comment period, BOEM received valuable feedback on several lease stipulations that reaffirmed BOEM’s commitment to create good-paying union jobs and to engage with Tribal governments, underserved communities, ocean users and other stakeholders.

The McKinsey Center for Future Mobility says cities may need to prepare for a transit option between a bicycle and a car.

October 8,2022-

By Charles Pekow

A Toyota i-Road minimobility concept vehicle 

“Minimobility” vehicles may be the next wave of transportation coming to cities, according to a September report by the McKinsey Center for Future Mobility, an international mobility consulting firm.

Shared use of these three- or four-wheeled electric-powered vehicles that carry one to two people is gaining interest in Europe, especially in France, according to the center.

The total addressable market for such vehicles could reach ”$100 billion annually across China, Europe and North America by 2030,” the report said. “In urban areas, minimobility may emerge as a viable alternative, bringing the added benefits of decreased congestion, reduced space requirements and lower emissions.”

Minimobility vehicles are easier to build, smaller, cheaper and more energy efficient than cars, according to the report. They are also slower and potentially safer than other mobility types.

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Unlike traditional micromobility vehicles such as scooters, bicycles and mopeds, they allow drivers and passengers to sit comfortably, carry more cargo, and provide weather protection, said Kersten Heineke, the center’s co-leader, in an interview.

The report says municipalities may add them to their vehicle sharing mix, but Heineke said private ownership would likely become a bigger market. “The best analogy is the retirement communities in Florida and California and other places where people use golf carts to go from A to B,” he said.

The report says manufacturers could build minimobility vehicles to go about 55 mph. But they are better suited to going 25 to 30 mph on city streets and could use GPS to prevent them from going faster than 12 or 15 mph when driven off-road, such as in a bike lane, Heineke said.

Governments will have to decide what, if any, licenses people will need to drive them on or off roads, he added. It wasn’t long ago that no one was talking about e-scooters, “and now they are everywhere,” he said.

The range between charges remains undetermined but will probably vary between 40 and 100 miles as “you will not do a 40-mile commute every day,” Heineke said. He anticipates that owners will be able to charge minimobility vehicles using standard electric outlets.

Foreign manufacturers have shown more interest than American ones; the first minimobility vehicles in the U.S. will probably be imports, Heineke said. Mobiag, a mobility tool maker, reported that Renault, Toyota and Nissan are among the automakers that have proposed prototypes for such vehicles.

Solar plus batteries help keep the lights on during recent heatwave

-Ocotober 8,2022-

Residential “rooftop” solar panel installations are heading higher this year according to the website Construction Monitor. Permits for residential solar units in Tulare, Kings, Fresno and Madera counties number 16,126 through September of this year, valued at nearly $400 million. That is up from 13,216 permits over the same time in 2021 and nearly double what it was in the first 9 months of 2020 when 8529 solar installations were permitted.

Who is the top solar installation company in the four-county area? Sunrun leads the pack with 3749 systems installed at an average price of $18,860, the lowest per-unit price of any of the top 15 companies doing work in the Central Valley. In terms of number of units, Solgen Electric is number two with 1052 units installed so far this year. Solar Negotiators are third with 794 units.

Among the reasons to go solar,homeowners can count on solar energy systems as a proven savings and investment tool with locked-in returns over 25 years.

San Francisco-based Sunrun advertises that “you can be your own electric company” adding that with net metering you can balance the amount of electricity you draw from the grid, and how much excess solar electricity you push into it. “So when you use less electricity than you make, you get credit from the utility company.”

Sunrun focuses on a power purchase agreement business model where Sunrun installs and maintains a solar system on a customers home, then sells power to the customer at an agreed upon rate for a 20- or 25-year term. This business model allows property owners to install solar at no upfront cost, but without the benefits (such as tax breaks) or some risks that come with being the owner of the system. The company partners with Costco and The Home Depot to market their products inside the stores. In 2021, the company installed solar systems capable of generating 792 megawatts of power.

Sunrun and others pair battery units with their panels.Having both home solar as well as a linked battery unit does make your household a socially-useful electric company, it turns out, helping to keep California’s lights on when there is a power issue in the area we all learned recently.

An analysis by the California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA) shows that California had more than 80,000 customer-sited batteries connected to the electric grid capable of providing 900 MW of solar power.

“The biggest battery in the world is located in garages around California and they are helping keep the lights on for everyone”

While not all the batteries were set to discharge during the peak hours of 4 p.m. – 9 p.m. on September 6, an estimated 76% were, which as a fleet, were capable of providing up to 684 MW of power at any given moment. CALSSA estimates that 50% of these batteries’ aggregate power was put into use during peak hours, providing approximately 340 MW of power. To put this into perspective, 340 MW is more than a mid-sized power plant.

“The biggest battery in the world is located in garages around California and they are helping keep the lights on for everyone”

When California suffered rolling blackouts in August 2020, California had 30,000 distributed batteries with the potential to discharge 500 MW of power. In just two years, 50,000 consumers added 400 MW of clean sun-charged battery power. The current 900 MW of distributed batteries in California is nearly the size of Diablo Canyon’s Unit 1.

“The biggest battery in the world is located in garages around California and they are helping keep the lights on for everyone,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, CALSSA executive director. “While it goes largely unrecognized by utilities and grid operators, these consumer investments in clean energy played a crucial role during this week’s heat wave helping keep the lights on not just for the homeowners and businesses who made the investment but for everyone.”

In February 2022, Ford announced a partnership that makes Sunrun the official installer of its bidirectional charging station for the F-150 Lightning, allowing customers to charge their truck at home, but also use the vehicle battery for backup power during a grid outage.