Energy Efficiency, Energy Procurement, Regulation, Solar, Sourcing Renewables  -  March 17, 2018

Weekend reads: Russians vs. U.S. energy; Learning to love Apple & Facebook & more

It's the weekend! Kick-back with these must-read energy stories from around the web:

DHS, FBI say Russian hackers are targeting the energy sector (Utility Dive)  An alert based on analysis by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security alleges Russian hackers have mounted a methodical, long-term campaign to infiltrate and surveil critical United States infrastructure, including energy and nuclear.

An Oregon Mill Town Learns to Love Facebook and Apple (New York Times)  A decade ago, when five shuttered sawmills and 20 percent unemployment defined Crook County, Ore., nobody envisioned that the path to recovery would be tied to Facebook and Apple. But on the rimrock summit overlooking this city, the county seat and home to 10,000 residents, Facebook is sinking the footings for the first of two 450,000-square-foot data centers that together will cost $1 billion when completed in 2021. 

Solar power: Here's where your state now ranks (CNBC)  If you live in South Carolina, congratulations. Your state vaulted nine spots and cracked into the top 20 markets for solar power capacity in 2017. The Solar Energy Industries Association on Thursday released its annual review of U.S. solar installations and with it comes a fresh ranking of capacity by state.

DOE Official: Clean Energy Funding Should Be Cut for ‘Exceeding Goals’ (GTM)  The Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is so successful that its funding should be diverted elsewhere, said the agency’s Under Secretary of Energy Mark Menezes. “In the area of EERE…we have been meeting or exceeding our goals” over the last five years, said Menezes, who spoke at The American Council on Renewable Energy’s Renewable Energy Policy Forum in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. 

Cow poop could help us make clean(er) energy (Popular Science)  During the summer of 2016, chemical engineer David Simakov took a leisurely drive through the farmlands of southern Ontario. During his trip, he stopped at a farm that was producing biogas from manure, then burning it to create electricity. Ever the scientist, Simakov began to wonder. Would it be possible to take that biogas one step further and refine it into natural gas?

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