Distributed Energy Resources, Energy Storage, Regulation, Distributed Generation, Solar, Wind  -  July 22, 2017

Weekend reads: Elon Musk's hyperloop; House approves EPA cuts; Michigan solar + storage & more

Every Saturday, we'll bring you five of the most interesting — or quirky; it is the weekend after all — energy stories from around the web that you may have missed this week. This weekend's reads: 

Elon Musk Says He Has 'Verbal' OK To Build N.Y.-D.C. Hyperloop (NPR): A plan to build an ultrafast Hyperloop One tube train has been given "verbal [government] approval" to connect large cities on the East Coast, tech entrepreneur Elon Musk says. He adds that the system would whisk passengers from New York to Washington, D.C., in 29 minutes. After his tweet about the plan set off intense interest, Musk added a clarification, stating, "Still a lot of work needed to receive formal approval, but am optimistic that will occur rapidly."

Committee approves $31.4B Interior, EPA spending bill (The Hill):  A House panel has approved a bill to cut the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) funding by $528 million but reject several deep cuts sought by President Trump. The House Appropriations Committee voted 30-21 on Tuesday to send to the House floor its $31.4 billion funding bill for the EPA, the Interior Department and other programs.

Clean Energy Is Trouncing Oil, Gas and Coal in Trump Era (Bloomberg):  President Donald Trump took office vowing to revive the coal industry’s fortunes. So far, the smart money has been on clean energy. An index of 40 publicly-traded solar companies, wind-turbine component makers and others that benefit from reduced fossil fuel consumption is up 20 percent this year. That’s more than double the S&P 500’s 9.8 percent gain. And better than the 8.3 percent rise by an index of leading coal companies.

Consumers Energy announces first solar + storage project for Michigan city (Utility Dive): Consumers Energy, Rockford Construction and officials from Grand Rapids, Mich., announced this week a project to create a renewable energy district in a 10-block region west of the city's downtown. The project will connect solar panels on new roofs with a battery project that media outlets report is being considered for development at a cell tower site near Rockford's headquarters.

Wind, solar do not harm power grid reliability-draft U.S. study (Reuters): The growth of renewable power, including wind and solar, has not harmed the reliability of the U.S. electricity grid, according to a draft U.S. Department of Energy study, echoing the findings of grid operators across the country. The conclusion of the draft, dated July and viewed by Reuters, could ease fears in the renewable energy industry that the widely anticipated study would be used by President Donald Trump's administration to form policies supporting coal plants at the expense of wind and solar.

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