Good morning and happy Friday,

A new report finds that the IRA has driven $20 billion in private Investment and created 67,000 new jobs in rural America. 

And while 2023 was a great year for energy storage, 2024 could blow last year out of the water, with domestic battery storage capacity nearly doubling if all the projects planned for this year are brought online, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

But while clean energy’s growth has been impressive, the International Energy Agency says “more financing and policy support is needed” if the world is to achieve the goal agreed to at last month’s climate talks of tripling clean power capacity by 2030.

Read on for more.

It isn’t easy being a Republican presidential candidate in the MAGA era, and the same holds true for conservative climate activists, who struggle to call attention to issues that “are not high on the minds of Republican voters, and likely won’t be one of the candidates’ top concerns anytime soon.” Here are some points to frame the issue:

• As the Iowa primary approaches, while right-leaning climate organizations may hold a tenuous position in party politics, many “feel they are making inroads” by “pushing hopefuls to talk about climate change and what, if anything, they would do to fight it.” 
• A key strategy for advocacy groups is to demonstrate that it’s possible to engage on the issue “in a conservative way that doesn’t alienate the base but actually grows our popularity with swing voters, with young people and those demographics that we’ve been losing for a long time.” 
• However, in their most recent debate, Haley and DeSantis both said there’s no need to reduce U.S. usage of fossil fuels, pointed to China, and said they’d target the climate-friendly policies enacted by President Biden.

Middle ground. In November, Conservative Coalition for Climate Solutions Action (C3 Action), which this week formally endorsed Haley, released a briefing book for GOP candidates. It cites research indicating that Haley’s position in the August debate – “acknowledging climate change science but emphasizing the need for China and India to reduce emissions” – landed well with independent and independent-leaning voters.

Texans are proud of their independence, but when it comes to electricity, being connected to your neighbors can be a good thing. At present, ERCOT – the ISO that serves most of Texas – has but four DC ties to neighboring grids that can handle a scant 1.2 GW of electricity combined. Southern Spirit Transmission aims to change that. Here are some fast facts about the project:

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• The $2.6 billion Southern Spirit Transmission line will begin in Louisiana at the Texas border and extend into Mississippi. It’s being developed by Pattern Energy, which plans to start construction in 2026 and achieve operation by the end of 2029. 
• When completed, the approximately 320-mile ±525 KV, ~3,000 MW high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line will be able to transfer more power than all four existing DC ties combined. 
• While Southern Spirit has received key approvals, it still needs to secure land easements – the Texas Public Policy Foundation estimates this could amount to “11,000 acres of right of way across hundreds of properties.”

Hot and cold. The project is in the news as Texas approaches the third anniversary of Winter Storm Uri, which cost nearly $200 billion and claimed nearly 300 lives. While many observers argue that additional gen-ties alone might not solve the problem – “If your neighbors need [the power] more, they're not going to sell it to you” – Pattern says that Southern Spirit Transmission will “fundamentally serve as ‘ice storm insurance’ for Texas.”

• Cool Rays: New study updates NASA on space-based solar power
• Picking Up the Pace: BOEM eyes faster offshore wind environmental reviews with first study of multiple lease areas
• Tax Credit Transfer: First Solar $700M sale of advanced manufacturing tax credits likely first of many such deals
• Uproar Upstate: As New York's clean energy grid expands, so do the concerns of Mohawk Valley residents

• $11 billion wind power project is being built in southern New Mexico
• Intersect Power’s 828 MWp Lumina Solar Project in Texas Reaches Commercial Operation
• NJ State Sen. Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick responds to terminated “Empire Wind 2” offshore wind energy project
• Microsoft commissions Ohio solar project that will benefit underserved communities

Timing is everything, and that’s particularly true when it comes to energy storage. Inexpensive, multi-day storage could be a huge game changer for renewables, and this week Puget Sound Energy (PSE) and Form Energy announced that they’ve agreed to explore deploying a novel 10-MW, 100-hour energy storage system in PSE's service area.

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The project, which could potentially be operational by the end of 2026, leverages Form Energy's iron-air battery technology, which offers significantly more energy storage than the four hours seen in most batteries. The basic principle of the technology is “reversible rusting,” which converts iron to rust during discharge and reverts it to iron when charging.

This project aligns with Washington's aggressive renewable energy goals of eliminating coal by 2025, achieving carbon neutrality by 2030, and relying solely on renewable and non-emitting resources by 2045.

For PSE, meeting these targets means acquiring unprecedented amounts of non-emitting resources within a decade, as indicated in its latest resource planning report. Enhanced energy storage capabilities mean the utility may be able to avoid having to build additional generation resources for use only during times of high demand. Let’s pump some iron!