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OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Clock ticking on wind credit
STATE OF PLAY: The House and the Senate will work a rare Friday shift as the clock runs down on an expiring wind industry tax credit.
Lawmakers are focused on getting a deal to avoid a series of automatic spending cuts and tax increases set to take effect Jan. 1.
For now, proponents and detractors of extending the wind credit for one year are busy drumming up support for their sides. That credit expires Dec. 31.
It is still unclear where a slate of tax extensions, such as the one for the wind industry, factors into any bargain on the so-called “fiscal cliff.”
House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) “Plan B” package did not include any tax extenders. The Senate Finance Committee has a $205 billion tax extenders bill ready to move, but the Senate is waiting on negotiations between Boehner and President Obama.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Check out these stories that ran on E2-Wire Thursday . . .
— Green, labor coalition urges Obama to tackle climate change
— House Natural Resources subcommittee to sharpen focus on environmental reviews
— Court won't revisit greenhouse gas ruling
— Conservative groups urge lawmakers to end wind credit
— Census: Oil-and-gas heavy North Dakota is fastest-growing state
NEWS BITES:
NOAA: 2012 second-costliest year since 1980
In all, NOAA tallied 11 events that cost more than $1 billion. The yearlong drought that has affected more than half the country and Hurricane Sandy were the two most expensive incidents.
Only 2005, in which Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, outranked this year in terms of natural-disaster damage.
EPA headquarters to be named after Bill Clinton?
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would be named after former President Clinton under a bill that awaits President Obama’s signature.
Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said Clinton deserved the recognition for strengthening drinking-water standards and helping curb air pollution.
"President Clinton not only protected the environment, which saved thousands of lives, he also maintained a strong economy and created jobs. Naming the EPA headquarters is a fitting way to honor his legacy,” Boxer said in a Thursday statement.
Utility to shut down coal-fired generator
Electric utility Kentucky Power will shutter an 800-megawatt coal-fired generator in 2015 rather than upgrade emissions control equipment.
The utility, which is a subsidiary of American Electric Power, had planned to spend $1 billion on new equipment at its Big Sandy power plant to meet forthcoming federal air pollution rules.
It shelved those plans in May because of “changes in the electricity market,” according to Platts.
Kentucky Power will replace the retired generator with a 50 percent stake in the 1,560-megawatt Mitchell coal plant in West Virginia.
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