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Good morning and happy Friday,
Lots of action with offshore wind this week as President Biden extended his permitting streak, giving a green light to Orsted’s 924 MW Sunrise Wind, the nation’s eighth project to receive BOEM approval, although ironically green sand may get in the works and jam up his ambitious vision for the U.S. offshore industry.
The Dispatch will be teed up for distribution prior to the first presidential debate, so we don’t have anything on how that went, but we’re guessing clean energy was a hot topic! Perhaps Mr. Trump will rail against the Pentagon’s (nonexistent) electric tanks; presumably he will speak negatively about renewables and the IRA, President Biden’s signature climate bill, which Mr. Trump has vowed to repeal – although economists say that would jeopardize $488 billion in American investments and could benefit China.
No Dispatch next week, so we’ll catch you up again on July 12th! Have a safe and happy Fourth of July – and if you perchance find yourself defending the economics of renewables over brats and beer, just whip out your phone and show your BBQ BFFs Lazard’s latest report on the LCOE of solar and wind (here’s the punchline: they’re still the lowest-cost options).
Read on for more.
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Buckeye Bottleneck
Floodlight News reports that Ohio continues to lead the nation – for being “one of the ‘most biased’ states against renewables.” While SB 52 is central to developers’ woes, there’s strong evidence that “dark money” from out-of-state, fossil-fuel backed groups is funding misinformation campaigns and stoking opposition to clean energy in the Buckeye State. Here’s the latest:
The first thing to know is that in Ohio, natural gas is considered renewable energy (and hey, on a geologic timescale that spans hundreds of millions of years, it is!). However, although SB 52 “gives local governments the power to veto solar and wind farms, no such veto power exists for fossil fuel projects.”
The law is “having a chilling effect on solar projects.” Of Ohio’s 88 counties, 22 have restricted areas against solar; while the state is currently seeing a lot of construction related to projects that were grandfathered in when SB 52 took effect, applications for new projects have tanked.
⚡️ The Takeaway
“This catastrophic thing.” Developers seeking to build projects in Ohio have their work cut out for them. While IRA incentives have driven some $6.4 million in investment in manufacturing facilities and created nearly 6,000 jobs, it doesn’t seem to be enough to overcome organized opposition. “Ohio is probably one of the most biased states in terms of its treatment of renewables as this catastrophic thing that needs to be limited and banned.” Seems rather shortsighted in a state that “faces a huge power supply crunch.”
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Laws in Order
Earlier this month, a consortium of contributors led by LBNL and DOE’s EERE released a detailed new report that closely examines the diversity of siting and permitting regulations, authorities, and processes for renewable energy across the United States and Puerto Rico, accompanied by an interactive map. Here are some highlights:
The report inventories summary material, findings, and individual reports for each state, and seeks to provide “an improved understanding of the regulatory landscape for large-scale wind and solar siting.”
Key factors covered include the entities involved, the presence or absence of timelines, public involvement requirements, and the availability of permitting guides and model ordinances to support local jurisdictional decision-making.
Big takeaways are that “a majority of states (37) give local governments the authority to set siting standards (tip heights, setbacks, etc.),” and “state approaches to siting and permitting can vary widely and are often difficult to categorize,” although in many states, project size can affect the process and requirements.
⚡️ The Takeaway
A complex web. Noting that “gaining approval from public authorities to build a large-scale wind or solar facility is often a complex process involving many actors,” an overarching goal of the research project was to simplify the web of siting and permitting processes and energy regulations for policymakers, developers, and renewable energy stakeholders. In addition to the full report, a recorded
webinar and accompanying slide presentation are available.
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>4th OF JULY BONUS SECTION!
Wind = Lasting Employment & Income
Since we’re off next week, we’re including a bonus section on a new LBNL report on wind projects and local employment that just dropped today. The study of more than 100 million US workers across 23 states finds clear evidence of increases in employment and earnings within 20 miles of existing wind projects that begin with project construction and continue for many years after. Here are some key
results, presented mostly verbatim:
The income and employment effects of wind farms are evident within 20 miles of an operating wind project but not beyond that; within 20 miles of operating wind projects, the researchers saw increases in employment of roughly 0.4%. This equates to about 230 jobs over the project's life and translates to one local FTE for each $2 million invested in the wind project.
The study also found clear evidence of increases in worker income within 20 miles, and increases in employment and income persist six years after the start of construction, which implies effects continue well after construction ends. This is likely due to spillover (or secondary) effects derived from increased tax and lease revenue accrued locally and wind project-related employment, all of which exist for many years, if not the project's full life.
Across all measures, the worker-level estimates used for the study were larger than county-level estimates, which are classically relied upon. This implies that the many previous studies that have relied on county-level estimates could be underestimating the size of the effects of wind farms on income and employment.
⚡️ The Takeaway
Outsized effects for some. Importantly, the study found that some segments of the population experience outsized effects compared to others. For example, Black workers enjoy larger employment and income effects than White and Hispanic workers. Similarly, individuals without a high school diploma or those with a college degree see larger benefits than those who only completed high school. Finally, male workers are associated with considerably larger benefits from wind development than female workers. The authors will host a webinar covering the study results on Thursday, July 11th, 2024, at 1 PM Eastern / 11 AM Mountain / 10 AM Pacific; click here to register!
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8 Minutes to 8 Mile
In 1950, Detroit was the wealthiest city in the U.S., but over the next several decades it suffered a long, slow economic and social decline, and in 2013 it filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Between the 1940s and 2020, the population decreased a staggering 65% – leading to significant disinvestment and blight. Last year, however, the Motor City registered its first population increase since 1957.
While that’s great news, there are still a lot of abandoned or vacant properties. “Currently, about 19 square miles of the 139-square-mile city is vacant.” And the City Council has a plan, at least for some of this land: solar farms.
The city hopes to host solar projects on about 200 acres of land (0.3125 sq mi) and anticipates the arrays “would produce enough clean energy to offset the electricity used currently by 127 municipal buildings,” saving the city an expected $4.4 million per year in energy costs.
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Sarah Banas Mills is director of the Center for EmPowering Communities at the University of Michigan’s Graham Sustainability Institute, and she sees an additional benefit from the solar farms: added security.
“There are not very many communities that would say ’You know, the thing that would make this better is a solar farm,'” Mills said. “A neighborhood might want a solar farm there to effectively fight illegal dumping. That’s a really unique way of thinking.”
That’s a new one on us, but we’re all for 8 Mile getting energy from 8 minutes away!
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