AUSTIN, Texas – Este jueves termina el lapso para recibir comentarios ciudadanos en torno a la revisión total que propuso la Administración para la Seguridad de Materiales Peligrosos de los Estados Unidos, a las normas que regulan los gasoductos de todo el país.
La Administración -conocida como PHMSA por sus siglas en inglés- inició el proceso de revisión de la regulación hace casi seis años, cuando un incendio mató a ocho personas y destruyó 38 hogares en San Bruno, California.
Holly Pearen, abogada “senior” del Fondo para la Defensa Ambiental (Environment Defense Fund), dice que, de ser adoptadas, las normas regirían sobre más de 300 mil millas de ductos de transmisión que existen.
“Las evaluaciones de integridad física propuestas serían de increíble ayuda, desde el punto de vista del público y del medio ambiente. Así que los beneficios de esta regulación son realmente tremendos.”
Los ductos con fugas no son sólo un problema de seguridad. Las instalaciones de transmisión y almacenaje cada año emiten más de un millón y cuarto de toneladas de metano, un potente gas de invernadero.
Según Pearen, muchas de esas emisiones vienen de equipo en mal estado, ductos con fugas, válvulas y uniones que pueden ser reparadas o cambiadas.
“Así que las evaluaciones más frecuentes no sólo traerán beneficios de seguridad pública al evitar incidentes como el de San Bruno; también ayudarán a que esas operaciones reduzcan las emisiones de metano.”
Otro componente importante de las nuevas normas sería la revocación de las exenciones para las llamadas líneas alimentadoras que van de los pozos a las instalaciones de procesamiento.
Pearen dice que la escala de estas líneas y el ritmo de su construcción han aumentado rápidamente con el “boom” de la perforación para extraer gas.
“Y la mayoría están sin regulación. Los operadores están construyendo líneas alimentadoras del tamaño y con la presión de las líneas de transmisión.”
Si bien la revisión completa de los ductos existentes podría llevar años, los ambientalistas afirman que la nueva regulación, si se adopta íntegra, será una mejoría masiva.
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Missouri homes and businesses have installed enough solar energy to power 68,000 homes each year.
A new report released by the Solar Energy Industries Association showed more than half of all solar installations in the United States have come online since 2020, with more than 25% installed since the Inflation Reduction Act passed almost two years ago.
Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the association, noted for Missouri farmers and rural residents, the most significant expense is power, needed for pumps, heating grow houses and running equipment.
"They're not paying for the sunshine," Ross Hopper pointed out. "And so, when they install solar to run their pump, or when they install solar on top of a chicken house, it saves an incredible amount of money because they are now using the sun to energize their system."
The report noted in 2012, only California had more than 25,000 solar systems installed. Today, 23 states and territories can make that claim, and 11 have surpassed 100,000 solar installations. More than 38,000 are in Missouri, which ranks 34th in the nation.
Ross Hopper emphasized not only is the growth in solar energy happening quickly, but it is sustained and she predicts it will continue to be.
"It took 40 years for the United States to install a million solar projects, and then it only took eight years to get to 5 million, and that is indicative of the rapid growth," Ross Hopper stressed. "We think it'll only take six years to get to 10 million."
She added the solar industry supports the careers of about 2,900 Missourians and has invested $1.6 billion in the state's economy.
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A new rule from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission could improve Virginia's electric grid transmission capacity.
It requires utilities and grid operators to plan 20 years ahead to accommodate expected changes in energy production. The rule is designed to help Virginia meet the high energy demands of the growing data center market and prevent service disruptions in extreme weather.
Nick Guidi, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the rule will help the state reach its climate goals.
"For the first time in a lot of these states, the transmission planning process will have to explicitly take into account state goals and corporate clean energy goals," Guidi explained. "That hasn't really happened before."
He added the current process holds back state activity. The rule faced sharp criticism from FERC Commissioner Mark Christie. He characterizes it as a way to enact policies never passed by Congress and calls it "a blatant violation of the major questions doctrine." Guidi thinks it could lead to legal challenges.
Another new rule makes transmission siting easier.
Jon Gordon, policy director for the group Advanced Energy United, feels the FERC orders create advancements in transmission infrastructure development, calling it an arduous but necessary process to improve transmission capacity.
"I think as a country we've sort of gotten behind the 8-ball on upgrading our transmission infrastructure," Gordon asserted. "Now we've reached a point where we need to move quickly on transmission upgrades to ensure reliability."
He added more comprehensive long-term transmission planning is needed to ensure the lowest-cost transmission is built for reliability.
Virginia passed legislation making transmission easier. It comes as the state's grid operator, PJM Interconnection, which ranked poorly in a report due to a backlog of interconnection projects. The law means an additional 40% capacity for the current grid and saves the state congestion costs.
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A federal agency today is expected to announce reforms related to the power grid, which is stretched thin as the nation transitions away from fossil fuels.
It's a complex issue clean-energy advocates in the Midwest know far too well.
There's a push to expand transmission lines to accommodate the tidal wave of wind, solar, and other renewable projects.
Rules being unveiled could address the thorny issue of cost-sharing among states for the build-out.
More broadly, the Midwest Renewable Energy Association's Executive Director Nick Hylla said market dynamics are tricky - noting competing interests among utilities and developers in expanding the grid.
He said another issue is protecting wildlife.
"The history of management of transmission lines isn't some solid track record from an environmental-conservation point of view," said Hylla. "We could be doing a much better job in transmission corridors."
In these cases, decarbonization groups and conservationists are at odds with each other. Notably, a recent court ruling is allowing a transmission line project involving Wisconsin to advance.
Hylla said "non-wire alternatives" are emerging to help the movement without turning to the grid.
In Minnesota, Xcel Energy has been testing a program that incentivizes customers to curb energy use during peak demand.
Similar programs are taking shape elsewhere, but industry analysts say these initiatives are navigating their own barriers as they try to get off the ground.
Still, Hylla said an example of this approach along the East Coast is turning some heads.
"It's a BYOB program - Bring Your Own Battery program - that now, over 24,000 customers in three eastern states have subscribed to," said Hylla. "It's basically a subsidy to put a battery in your house and just to make sure that you're not using electricity in peak times. "
As governments, utilities and other entities face pressure to meet climate goals amid soaring demand for electricity, Hylla suggested these solutions will have to work hand-in-hand.
His group is focused on efficiencies, such as rooftop solar, to reshape the distribution of energy.
But he said large-scale renewable projects play a role, too, including the economic benefits for communities in which they're located.
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