Solar's big chill boosts coal

May 06, 2022 View in browser   By Debra Kahn THE WEEK THAT WAS Coal power plants could be getting a new lease on life due to the Commerce Department's solar probe. | Elise Amendola/AP Photo CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF COAL PLANTS — The tension between reliance on Chinese imports and reducing domestic emissions just got thicker. An Indiana utility said this week that it would delay retiring a coal-fired power plant for two years because of the Commerce Department's investigation. Chinese companies are being accused of circumventing steep tariffs by shifting production of solar panels to countries in Southeast Asia where the duties don't apply. The investigation has sent a chill across the solar industry since it got underway a month ago. But this is the first example of a direct effect on fossil fuels. Northern Indiana Public Service Co. said it would push back the retirement date of one of its two remaining coal plants by two years because of supply chain uncertainty stemming from the investigation. NIPSCO is delaying 10 solar projects because of the probe, so it's projecting it will need to keep coal online longer in the meantime. It's an early sign of how the investigation could stall utilities' plans to shift away from fossil fuels, as Jeffrey Tomich writes for POLITICO's E&E News. Lloyd Yates, CEO of NIPSCO parent company NiSource Inc., said he is still "committed to completing our transition from coal." The utility is still planning to shut down its other coal units by 2028 as scheduled. But the case is now directly pitting concerns about Chinese panel-dumping against power-sector emissions. "The two coal units that are going to stay open are a perfect illustration of the damage that this case is going to have," said Dan Whitten, spokesperson for the Solar Energy Industries Association, which estimates the industrywide effect on solar could be the equivalent of keeping 96 coal plants open. The Wall Street Journal interviewed the CEO of the company that started it all: San Jose-based panel manufacturer Auxin Solar. Mamun Rashid says his company is getting hacked and his employees are getting harassed as a result of the petition it filed seeking the Commerce investigation: "The last thing I would want to do is take an action that hurts" the renewables industry, Rashid told WSJ. "But are we going to look the other way on not abiding by U.S. law?" More coal: Meanwhile, India is seeing record coal production thanks to a heat wave, rebounding electricity demand and reduced reliance on Russian coal. The Financial Times reports India's coal use hasn't peaked yet, despite its COP26 commitment to "phase down" use. YOU TELL US GAME ON – Happy Friday! Welcome to the Long Game, where we're delivering the latest on efforts to shape our future. Tuesday through Friday, we've got data-driven storytelling, compelling interviews with industry and political leaders, and more news to keep you in the loop on sustainability. Our team is sustainability editor Greg Mott, deputy editor Debra Kahn, reporters Lorraine Woellert and Catherine Boudreau and digital producer Jordan Wolman. Reach them at gmott@politico.com, dkahn@politico.com, lwoellert@politico.com, cboudreau@politico.com and jwolman@politico.com. Want more? Sign up for the Long Game. Four days a week and still totally free! SUSTAINABLE FINANCE BILLIONAIRE'S BURDEN — Eyebrows were raised this week at a billionaire's funding of a university sustainability center — and it wasn't John Doerr's $1 billion gift to Stanford. Caltech broke ground Thursday in Pasadena on its $750 million Resnick Sustainability Center, funded by California agricultural tycoons Lynda and Stewart Resnick. The Resnicks are the biggest farmers of irrigated land in the world, and their specialty is permanent crops like pistachios, pomegranates and citrus that have to be watered every year (i.e., aren't drought-tolerant). "Ah yes, the Resnicks: a name practically synonymous with sustainability, right?" wrote Caltech PhD student Celeste Labedz. Other public reaction: Hey, it's better than Elon Musk buying Twitter. "At least they're spending their money on something that will have a long-term benefit for society," said Kathryn Phillips , former director of Sierra Club California. "If the Resnicks want to give it to Caltech and Doerr wants to give it to Stanford, good on them. It becomes a question then of do they have full academic independence?" BUILDING BLOCKS Firefighters spray water on burning plants as flames race across the desert floor in Palmdale, Calif. | Mike Meadows/AP Photo FIRE SALES — Federal and state firefighters are getting new technology to help them with wildfires that are increasingly becoming a year-round problem, John Fialka reports for POLITICO's E&E News. Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) is working on computerized "operation centers" that can be moved around to collect information about major fires. Dryad Networks, a German company, is designing a system of cheap, low-power sensors that can be hung on trees to pinpoint traces of carbon monoxide and other gases emitted at the start of forest fires. California is getting new drones adapted from autonomous aircraft previously developed and used by the military. And the U.S. Forest Service is preparing to use two new types of drones: one designed to spot new fires, and another that can set fires around existing wildfires to deprive them of fuel. Firefighters are being introduced to the new technologies now through crash courses, to prepare them for a long, hot summer. Already, the U.S. has seen 1.1 million acres burned this year, well above the 10-year year-to-date average of 707,000 acres. Read more from John here.   INTRODUCING DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED:  Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today.     WHAT WE'RE CLICKING — A top German software company is facing allegations of harassment and bullying toward female employees, Bloomberg reports. — Is Southern California sprawl sustainable if it comes with EVs and electric stoves?  — In their latest public spat, Bill Gates says his shorting of stocks of Elon Musk's Tesla Inc. has nothing to do with climate change. Bloomberg has the story. — An AP analysis finds 2,200 dams across the country in dangerous shape. A lot of them are in Texas, Georgia and North Carolina. LOOK AHEAD Events are listed in Eastern Time May 10 — The CTIA holds its 2022 5G Summit, with the theme "5G's Climate Impact." 1:30 p.m. May 10 — The University of Chicago's Energy Policy Institute hosts a conversation on climate policy in the developing world. 6:30 p.m. May 10 — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce holds its second annual virtual Global Forum, "Competition in the Global Marketplace." May 11 — Carbon180 holds a webinar on its recent white paper, Setting DAC on Track. 3:30 p.m. May 12 — Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group and the Baker Institute Center for Energy Studies host a discussion on carbon capture, utilization and storage. 4 p.m.   STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.       Follow us on Twitter Catherine Boudreau @ceboudreau Debra Kahn @debra_kahn Greg Mott @gwmott Lorraine Woellert @Woellert Jordan Wolman @jordanwolman   Follow us

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