Blog

President Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to announce limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. If implemented, the proposed regulation would be the first time the federal government has restricted carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants, as well as future plants. According to the regulation, almost all coal and gas-fired power plants would have to cut or capture nearly all of their carbon dioxide emissions by 2040 . The regulation is now...

California is introducing the first-ever graduated tax on electricity bills. Traditionally, utility bills are based on the user’s consumption. If you use twice as much electricity as your neighbor, you pay twice as much. But last year, California’s legislature passed a law that adds a de facto income tax to the state’s electric bills. Based on that law, three major utility companies in California  are restructuring their customer billing with customers being charged based on how much...

Not only is President Biden changing regulations to force Americans to buy electric vehicles by establishing new, rigorous standards for tailpipe emissions for model years 2027 through 2032 that gasoline-powered vehicles cannot meet, he is also forcing an 80,000 mile, eight-year warranty for electric vehicles on automakers. The auto standards, expected to be the toughest  in U.S. history, are designed to cap emissions allowed per mile, encouraging the sale of electric vehicles that do not...

The New York Times notes that EPA is releasing rules that are intended to ensure that electric cars represent between 54 and 60 percent of all new cars sold in the United States by 2030 and 64 to 67 percent by 2032—in 9 years. That would exceed President Biden’s earlier goal announced in 2021  to have all-electric cars account for half of new car sales by 2030. The purpose of the new EPA regulations is to essentially regulate cars with combustible engines out of business by making...

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and fellow oil-producing allies (OPEC+) are back in the driver’s seat as U.S. shale oil is no longer the marginal fuel due to President Joe Biden’s anti-oil and gas policies. Brent oil jumped to $85 a barrel since members of OPEC+ including Russia announced production cuts  of 1.16 million barrels per day on April 2, adding to earlier cuts the bloc made. OPEC+ wants higher prices to pay for Saudi Arabia’s domestic projects and...

The United States and Japan reached a trade agreement for critical minerals used in batteries–a deal aimed at allowing Japan to meet sourcing requirements for new electric-vehicle subsidies in the United States and beginning to shift energy supply chains away from China. Under the deal, the United States and Japan agreed not to levy export duties on critical minerals they trade and coordinate labor standards in producing minerals, among other steps. The Biden administration has started ...

Senator Joe Manchin, Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is not happy about how his wording in the Inflation Reduction Act is being interpreted by President Biden’s Department of the Treasury.  Treasury’s proposal allows a much wider claim on the electric vehicle tax credit than he says he intended. The Treasury Department is offering U.S. automakers leniency  in being able to use more foreign-sourced minerals and battery parts without losing the tax break and...

New York will become the first state to pass a law banning natural-gas and other fossil-fuel hookups in new buildings on its way to meeting President Biden’s net zero carbon goals and the state’s own targets for greenhouse-gas reduction. The New York State Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, passed in 2019, calls for a reduction in economy-wide greenhouse-gas emissions of 40 percent by 2030 and 85 percent by 2050 from 1990 levels.

The ban  is to be added to the state’s...

Expensive electricity rates are making home battery charging a headache and outside of the home , inconsistent and sometimes high pricing policies, frequently broken equipment, and a lack of battery chargers in key locations for all but Tesla drivers is frustrating electric vehicle owners. Inflation and intermittent renewable energy (wind and solar power) are escalating electricity rates, making EV home charging a frustrating experience for some drivers, particularly those in blue states...

Minor damage to an electric vehicle battery pack can lead to the entire car being totaled, leaving the expensive battery packs piling up in the scrapyard and causing higher insurance premiums. With no way to repair or assess slightly damaged battery packs after accidents, electric vehicles can lose up to 50 percent of their price, rendering it uneconomical to replace them, as batteries are the most expensive component of electric vehicles costing many tens of thousands of dollars.

In...