Distributed Energy Resources, GHG Emissions, Regulation, Solar  -  February 24, 2024

Weekend Reads: Greener Snowmaking; EVs Transcend Politics

It's the weekend! Kick back and catch up with these must-read articles from around the web:

Greener snowmaking is helping ski resorts weather climate change (Grist)  As a warming world creates an existential threat for the ski industry, resorts are reducing how much energy they need to make it snow.

Inside Fatih Birol’s push to transform the IEA into a clean energy authority (TIME)  In the immediate aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many energy experts spoke about the energy dynamics as a hard-to-control, slow-moving train wreck. The vacillations of both the weather and Vladimir Putin would determine whether Europe — reliant on Russian gas for 40% of its gas needs — could make it through the winter without blackouts — and the ensuing political chaos. Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), saw it differently: a series of key policy moves, executed quickly and diligently, could stave off disaster. Within weeks, the IEA had crafted a 10-point plan to do just that. 

Massachusetts order expected to boost distributed solar, could be model for other states (UtilityDive)  New rules expand net metering to government facilities, exempt certain users from program generation caps and enable net metering transfer credits between utility territories and ISO-NE load zones.

Is electric vehicle ownership partisan? (CNN)  Electric vehicle sales hit a new milestone last year, with more than a million sold across the US — and buyers might not be following partisan patterns, new data suggests.

Anxiety builds as deadline for Biden rules nears (E&E News by POLITICO)  President Joe Biden’s allies are getting antsy about his administration’s pileup of unfinished environmental rules — especially with the threat that a second Trump presidency could undo them all.

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