TVA and DOE agree to study hydropower
The Tennessee Valley Authority will work with the Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) of the U.S. Department of Energy over the next six months to evaluate and demonstrate different ways to operate hydropower plants to improve the electricity grid as it moves toward more renewable energy.
TVA announced Tuesday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with DOE to enhance collaboration on hydropower technology development. TVA, which already gets 11% of its electricity from its 29 hydroelectric dams and the Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage Facility, is looking to boost its carbon-free energy sources and to build more energy storage capability to deploy more power during peak demand periods, especially when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow.
“Today’s hydropower fleet has a crucial role to play in achieving the United States’ clean energy goals, but strategies for operating those plants will have to evolve as more renewable energy resources come onto the grid,” WPTO Director Jennifer Garson said in a statement.
TVA has been a pioneer in hydropower technology–completing its first energy-producing dam in Norris, Tennessee, in 1936.
WPTO and its national laboratory partners will focus on quantifying the value hydropower and pumped storage facilities provide to the electricity grid and applying advanced modeling to predict the effects of climate change on TVA’s hydropower systems.
Silicon Bank officials face class action suit
A class action lawsuit is being filed against the parent company of Silicon Valley Bank, its CEO and its chief financial officer, saying that company didn’t disclose the risks that future interest rate increases would have on its business.
The lawsuit is looking for unspecified damages to be awarded to those who invested in SVB Financial Group between June 16, 2021 and March 10, 2023. The lawsuit says some quarterly and annual financial reports from SVB didn’t fully account for warnings from the Federal Reserve about interest rate hikes.
SEC’s climate rule draws huge reaction
Attorneys and industry experts say a closely watched rule from the Securities and Exchange Commission that would require public companies to say much more to shareholders about how their operations affect the climate has generated more public comment than many recent regulations from the nation’s top financial regulator.
The SEC is expected to issue a final rule in the spring. The draft rule it put out last summer has drawn thousands of comments.
The rule would make the U.S. the latest government to regulate what companies must report on their greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and above a certain level, the cost of climate change on their business.
Court says Uber drivers aren’t company employees
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California appeals court has ruled companies like Uber and Lyft do not have to treat their drivers as employees.
The ruling means app-based ride hailing and delivery companies do not have to provide certain worker protections and benefits. The state Legislature passed a law in 2019 requiring these companies to treat their drivers as employees.
Companies like Uber and Lyft spent $200 million in 2020 on a campaign to convince voters to exempt them from that law. Voters agreed. In 2021 a state judge ruled the companies were not exempt from the law.
Monday, a state appeals court overturned that decision.
— Compiled by Dave Flessner