Good morning and happy Friday,

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A unique bottleneck for large-scale solar developers is emerging in California. With a host of incentives from the Biden administration designed to fuel rapid change, The California Independent System Operator is forced to delay feasibility study results by a year or more due to increased competition.

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In the Midwest, The Republican party is proposing a new GOP bill that may pull tax credits away from farmers who host “nonsense” solar power installations on their farmland. The opposition, conservation group Clean Wisconsin, argues that Wisconsin is currently using over 1 million acres to grow corn used to produce ethanol. If used for solar instead, this could power 804 billion miles for electric vehicles per year.

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Meanwhile, the East Coast is connecting 175 miles of underground transmission cables designed to deliver renewable energy from upstate New York to the city. It’s a part of a new $1.2 billion dollar renewable energy fund that joins New York’s $11 billion dollar, 3,800-megawatt renewable energy project.

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Read on for more.

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Large-scale battery projects are essential for supporting the grid, especially for renewable energy sources which may be sporadic, such as solar only producing in the daytime, and wind turbines when there is wind. To help meet the demand, projects have been adopted quickly and were typically considered to be very safe, until recently.

Unfortunately, the news has latched on to a [few fires at battery facilities](https://www.utilitydive.com/news/fire-safety-outreach-battery-energy-storage/700726/?utmsource=Sailthru&utmmedium=email&utmcampaign=Issue: 2023-12-05 Utility Dive Storage [issue:57063]&utmterm=Utility Dive: Storage) around the country. The stories may have been taken out of context due to a sluggish response on the industry’s part, but the facts remain: nobody was hurt, the fires were brief, and the equipment and [safety plan acted accordingly](https://www.utilitydive.com/news/fire-safety-outreach-battery-energy-storage/700726/?utmsource=Sailthru&utmmedium=email&utmcampaign=Issue: 2023-12-05 Utility Dive Storage [issue:57063]&utmterm=Utility Dive: Storage). 

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This has led to a few new developments:

• NY BEST has created new policies around safety for energy storage which they hope to share with current and upcoming storage projects
• Companies are adopting new, more robust emergency response plans for if and when these low-frequency, high-hazard events occur
• When promoting a new storage project, it’s a good idea to begin an open and transparent community conversation about safety 
• Investing time into community support is still crucial to developing new projects

Get in first. Remember that with news cycles, getting the facts in early helps to steer the conversation favorably. Even better than that is proactively taking charge of the conversation and being transparent with any and all information around public concerns, especially where safety is an issue.

Wyoming may be the top coal-producing state in the nation, but Republican Gov. Mark Gordon has been on a mission to make the state carbon neutral since 2021. The task he faces is to keep their thriving legacy coal industry alive while reducing carbon emissions.

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This has sparked hot debate in the Republican party. The American Conservation Coalition group noted that they were encouraged to see specific strategies for capturing and reducing carbon play out. On the other hand, Wyoming Rep. John Bear of the Freedom Caucus called this a Socialist agenda which could lead to cold homes in winter, and higher prices on food and gas.

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Wyoming is currently facing a proposed 30% price hike on energy bills. Legislators are concerned with ensuring people and businesses have access to affordable energy, and with how the utility companies seek bids.

• Wyoming’s coal industry employment was down 13% in 2022 over the 4 years since Gordon’s election
• The Wyoming Republican Party issued a vote of no confidence in Gordon, with 30 legislators demanding a debate
• Since then, Gordon has doubled down on his message that climate change is real and caused by human activity
• Despite the pushback, Gordon was re-elected in 2022 with 74% of the popular vote, one of the highest rated in the nation

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The cheese stands alone. Gordon’s actions show how renewable energy can cross party lines in order to achieve specific and functional goals. Ultimately, as long as we see renewable energy projects align with solutions that fit into the needs of lawmakers, we will continue to see forward progress and adoption regardless of their opposition. If a coal state can go carbon negative, they will be leading the way for other states to follow.

• War on Inflation: Renewable Energy Could Be a Casualty
• Funded: UAE sets up $30 billion fund to invest in clean energy projects 
• Windy South Fork: New York Is Getting Its First Electricity From Winds Over the Atlantic

• Proposed solar farm in Mercer County IL drawing frustration with neighbors
• Mason County WVA solar farm project faces opposition
• Prince George VA residents voice opposition to proposed solar farm
• Frankfort Village Board Opposes Solar Farm Proposal in Illinois
• Carroll County officials vote against moratorium on proposed industrial wind farm, despite opposition

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Much of the discussion about climate change focuses on moving away from coal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Now it turns out coal mines could be a source of rare earth elements (REE) considered vital to the clean energy transition because they’re needed to make batteries, steel, and specialty materials.

Earlier this year, U.S. coal producer Ramaco Resources announced that its Brook Mine property near Sheridan, Wyoming contained significant quantities of magnetic rare earth element deposits – potentially $37 billion worth, to be precise.

Per Ramaco, another feature that sets their deposits apart is the relative ease with which they can be accessed. Unlike typical REE deposits, which are “found in igneous hard rock deposits,” those in the Brook Mine are “largely found in clay strata located above and below the coal seams themselves,” meaning they can be mined and processed “in a more economic and environmental manner than conventional” deposits.

Other states with coal mines are eager to get in the game. Researchers in West Virginia secured an $8 million grant from DOE to develop and advance a “pioneering method to extract and separate rare earth elements and critical minerals from acid mine drainage and coal waste,” and Penn State’s Center for Critical Materials is hot on the case as well. Sounds promising to us!