Federal regulators on Monday handed a victory to corn farmers and the renewable fuels industry by refusing to allow a group of petroleum refiners in 14 states to forego requirements to blend ethanol into the gasoline they make.
The U.S. Department of Justice, Environmental Protection Agency and the California attorney general’s office say Daimler violated environmental laws by using so-called “defeat device software” to circumvent emissions testing.
The Indianapolis-based utility said it also will spend $5 million to mitigate what critics say has been harm to the environment caused by the plant’s excess emissions over the years.
The Office of the Utility Consumer Counselor is recommending state regulators deny a utility’s request to compensate customers with solar panels less for extra energy they send back into the power grid.
The service started by the parent company of Indianapolis Power & Light offers monthly subscriptions that cover use of a car, plus all insurance and maintenance costs.
Smaller, independent operators hailed the changes as important to their survival, but major oil producers called the move disappointing.
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission cited the utility for instances of failing to locate or mark underground pipelines within two days of a request being made, as is required in advance of any excavation work.
Supporters say the Great American Outdoors Act is the most significant conservation legislation enacted in nearly half a century.
“We’re all connected—our drinking-water utilities, our industries, people who want to use water for recreation—it’s all the same water,” says Jill Hoffmann. “So we have to manage it together.”
While the demand for printing papers had been in slow decline before the pandemic, the magnitude of the drop during COVID-19 has been a surprise.
The controversial changes to the National Environmental Policy Act are expected to make it easier to build highways, pipelines, chemical plants and other projects.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler said national average ozone concentrations have dropped 25% in recent decades, mainly due to reductions in pollutants that contribute to the formation of smog.
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission ruled Monday that Duke Energy, the state’s largest electricity provider, could collect an additional $146 million a year from customers. That’s down sharply from Duke Energy’s original request.
Monday’s ruling followed a huge uproar from ratepayers and elected officials, who widely criticized utilities for their request to charge customers for electricity they didn’t use when demand slowed down during health crisis lockdowns.
More than 2,300 people have complained by email to the Indiana Utility Consumer Counselor, which is on track to become the largest number of complaints for any single case in at least a decade.
Energy Systems Network prefers to work in the background while pushing forward initiatives like IndyGo’s bus rapid transit program, the Blue Indy electric car-sharing service and autonomous IndyCar-style racing.
Most people have never heard of Energy Systems Network. But they probably either know of or have been affected by one or more of the not-for-profit’s forward-thinking projects.
Without spring events that usually attract members and donors, some of Indiana’s environmental organizations are struggling to stay afloat.
A utility that serves about 145,000 customers in Indiana wants approval to significantly reduce financial credits given to people who send excess solar-generated electricity into the power grid.
Claiming an IDEM official gave “disparate treatment out of sheer vindictiveness” and “orchestrated a campaign of official harassment,” environmental consultants and business owners have filed a lawsuit against the Indiana Department of Environment Management and a deputy assistant commissioner.
