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EPA PROBES ARKEMA EXPLOSION IN HURRICANE’S WAKE: The Environmental Protection Agency has started a preliminary investigation into whether the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, followed federal safety rules after explosions and a fire rocked the facility in the wake of flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt told the Washington Examiner in an exclusive interview Monday that he authorized a formal inquiry under Section 114 of the Clean Air Act, asking the company whether it complied with a risk management plan that it is required to file with the EPA.
EPA could level criminal charges: Depending on the information obtained by the EPA, the agency can issue administrative, civil or criminal action against Arkema, a multinational company based in France.
Read more about Pruitt’s action here.
MILLIONS WITHOUT ELECTRICITY: Hurricane Irma left more than 7 million Florida residents without electricity in its wake.
The electric industry’s lead trade group, the Edison Electric Institute, said 50,000 utility workers from all over the country have been dispatched to the Sunshine State to help restore power. The number of utility workers is five times the amount of personnel dispatched to Texas and Louisiana after Hurricane Harvey last month.
It could take up to four weeks for electricity to be restored in the hard-hit Florida Keys.
The storm was downgraded to a tropical depression Monday night as flooding from storm surge is becoming the concern. It is heading to Tennessee, with heavy rain spread across the Southeast.
GRID WATCHDOG EASES DEADLINES: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is giving pipeline companies and utilities extra time to submit their paperwork because of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
The commission, which just came back to life last month after six months without a working quorum, told the energy industry Monday that they will get extra time to get their paperwork in on a plethora of items that include electricity rate cases from utilities and grid operators.
IRMA PROVES WORSE FOR NUKES: Nuclear power reactors were forced offline because of Hurricane Irma, which proved to be more than some of the plants could handle compared to Texas’ plants after Hurricane Harvey.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday that the the Unit 3 reactor at the Turkey Point power plant in south Florida “remains safely shut down, as it has been since Saturday” due to the storm. And Turkey Point’s Unit 4 reactor was triggered to shut down automatically Sunday evening due to a valve issue, the commission said in a Monday update.
One comes up, another goes down: The St. Lucie plant in Florida started experiencing trouble Monday, caused by salt buildup on insulators that supply offsite power. Power plant operators reduced electricity output from one of the plant’s two reactors. “St. Lucie Unit 2 remains at full power,” the commission said. “Two NRC resident inspectors remain at the site, but it is expected that NRC will return to normal inspection staffing at this site, also within a day or two.”
NRC critics: Anonymity is the best policy when it comes to criticizing the nation’s nuclear watchdog. The commission allows for the public to comment on its Irma updates, and comment they did.
First, sarcasm: “I feel so much better with additional, but totally unnecessary, NRC people at nuke sites in Florida … Thank God for well qualified utility nuke plant operators at these sites. The NRC only gets in the way!”
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TRUMP GIVES SOLAR ENERGY A SHOT: The Trump administration is meeting former President Barack Obama’s solar energy goals three years ahead of schedule, the Energy Department plans to announce Tuesday.
The Energy Department will announce that the Obama-era Solar Shot program’s 2020 price-reduction goals for solar energy have been met this month by big, utility-scale solar power plant projects, shrinking its cost from 20 to 6 cents per kilowatt hour.
More money: Energy Secretary Rick Perry is throwing $82 million at the agency’s Solar Energy Technologies Office to get the ball rolling on the administration’s new priorities for the renewable energy technology. The funding for early stage research will be announced Tuesday.
Solar ‘death ray’ gets $62M: The bulk of the money will go to “concentrated solar power” technologies that use hundreds of mirrors to reflect sunlight onto a tower to convert heat into electricity. A similar power plant in California has been called out by Republicans for acting as a “death ray” by singeing birds to a crisp in mid-flight. They also said the cost of running the facility hasn’t proven to be cost effective.
The administration points out that it has one key advantage over small-scale non-utility solar projects by being able to store thermal energy “to produce electricity when the sun is not shining or integrated into other applications, such as producing fresh water.”
The remaining $20 million will go to early stage projects to advance power electronics technologies for connecting photovoltaic solar panels to the grid.
GRIJALVA: GOP SELLS OUT TO NRA: Rep. Raul Grijalva, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, is leading Democrats to oppose a number of Republican-backed public lands bills slated to be voted on Wednesday.
The bills “are a sign that Republicans will do any amount of damage to public safety, to sportsmen and to the outdoors to keep the National Rifle Association (NRA) happy,” his office said in a statement.
Only the beginning: Grijalva promises that the SHARE Act is just the “first of the week’s many Republican giveaways to the controversial group.”
The bills includes such measures as easing restrictions on silencers, protecting the use of armored-piercing bullets and easing importation of foreign-made assault rifles, to name a few.
GAS UP: The American Gas Association retooled its natural gas vehicle advocacy arm on Tuesday, which means natural gas cars and trucks could get a second look by the Trump administration in the coming months.
American Gas Association President and CEO Dave McCurdy announced that Dan Gage will head Natural Gas Vehicles for America, a mini trade group housed within the much larger natural gas group.
“NGVAmerica has been a catalyst for the progress we have seen in natural gas transportation in recent years with their education and advocacy efforts broadening the adoption of NGVs and opening up new markets where alternative transportation options can make a substantial impact on budgets and our environment,” he said.
CLIMATE, BUT NO CLIMATE CHANGE: The Trump administration said Monday that it takes climate change seriously when considering the string of major hurricanes hitting the country, but determining cause is a bridge too far.
“I will tell you that we continue to take seriously the climate change, not the cause of it, but the things that we observe,” White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert said Monday in briefing reporters on the government’s response to Hurricane Irma.
POPE’S WARNING: Pope Francis warned Monday that history will judge the actions of leaders on how they respond to climate change.
GIVE PARIS A CLIMATE CHANCE: The United Nations Framework on Climate Change opened its second annual Climate Change Summit in Agadir, Morocco, with California representing the United States.
The meeting represented non-state actors — or cities, provinces and states — ahead of a November meeting of the signatories of the Paris agreement in Bonn, Germany, to decide on next steps in meeting the goals of the 2015 deal.
RUNDOWN
Bloomberg Volkswagen to build electric version of all its 300 models by 2030
New York Times Floodwaters in two Houston neighborhoods have been contaminated with bacteria and toxins that can make people sick
Washington Post A study by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions found 517 companies have put a price on carbon and 732 are planning to do so
CNN The United Nations Security Council adopted new sanctions capping North Korea’s oil imports
Wall Street Journal OPEC crude oil production fell for the first time since April, helping to ease global supply glut
NBC News Tesla remotely extended the battery life of its electric cars as drivers escaped Hurricane Irma
Calendar
TUESDAY, SEPT. 12
3 p.m., 366 Dirksen. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy will hold an oversight hearing on “Fostering Innovation: Contributions of the Department of Energy’s National Laboratories.” energy.senate.gov
Sept. 12-Sept. 18, Massachusetts Water Week shines a spotlight on water-innovation and highlights the great work of the region’s water innovators and companies in Boston. masscec.com/events/massachusetts-water-week-2017
Sept. 12-Sept. 14, at the Washington Court Hotel in Washington, D.C., The ethanol group Growth Energy holds its 2017 Biofuels Summit. growthenergy.org/news-media/events-calendar/2017-advocacy-conference/
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 13
10 a.m., 2123 Rayburn. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Environment Subcommittee holds a hearing on “Big Relief for Small Business: Legislation Reducing Regulatory Burdens on Small Manufacturers and Other Job Creators,” including: the “Blocking Regulatory Interference from Closing Kilns Act of 2017”; the “Satisfying Energy Needs and Saving the Environment Act”; the “Relief from New Source Performance Standards Act of 2017”; and the “Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act of 2017.” energycommerce.house.gov
10 a.m., 406 Dirksen. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee holds a hearing on “Expanding and Accelerating the Deployment and Use of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Sequestration.” epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/hearings?ID=46419E63-564B-465A-8B6A-96D9F990FDF8
2:30 p.m., 366 Dirksen. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s Energy Subcommittee holds a hearing on “Fostering Innovation: Contributions of the Department of Energy’s National Laboratories.” energy.senate.gov
THURSDAY, SEPT. 14
6 p.m., Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium. The Alliance to Save Energy holds its 25th annual Evening With the Stars of Energy Efficiency Awards Dinner, with nearly 400 leaders from industry, government and the nonprofit sector will convene what has become known as “energy prom.” ase.org/events/2017-evening-stars-energy-efficiency-awards-dinner
SUNDAY, SEPT. 17
Sept. 17-20, New Orleans. The National Association of State Energy Officials, representing state-appointed energy officials, holds its annual 2017 meeting. naseo.org/event?EventID=1421
