GENERATE: INTELLIGENCE
December 2024 Newsletter
IN THIS EDITION
Expert View

Where are we in the energy transition?

By the numbers

The latest data behind the energy transition

Policy & regulatory highlights

A roundup of energy transition policy headlines

What we're reading

Our favorite articles and reports from the last month

Note from the editor

Welcome to the Generate: Intelligence December Newsletter. This month we’re bringing you the top climate and energy transition headlines and analysis from across North America.

Expert View

Where are we in the energy transition?
Logan Goldie-Scot
Director of Market Research
The years of irrational exuberance are over but instead of despairing, we should be thankful for them. It allowed us to invent things we needed, to invest in things that wouldn’t have drawn investment, and to pass policies that have moved us forward materially. Much of what was invested in will survive in a more rigorous structure and will fit into the investable, bankable economy that we’re helping to build. Some of it will not....

By the numbers

Not only is 2024 on track to be the hottest year on record, it will also be the first year in which the average temperature is more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial averages – the critical warming threshold identified by scientists and targeted by the Paris Agreement (Copernicus, Reuters).

 

Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) reached a new milestone in the final month of the Biden administration: $100 billion awarded in grants. The current administration is on track to award more than 80% of the available IRA funding by the end of Biden’s term, effectively safeguarding those funds from being retracted by the Trump administration (Reuters).

 

2024 saw $500 billion worth of hurricane damage in the US, representing nearly 2% of the US’s GDP (E&E News 🔒).

 

Sightline Climate’s latest report illustrates how an uptick in climate-focused infrastructure funds helped propel the climate investment landscape in 2024, despite shrinking dry powder from venture capital funds. Since April 2024, climate-focused infrastructure funds have raised $16.3 billion, compared to $4.5 billion for venture funds and $8.5 billion for growth equity funds (Sightline Climate). As we noted in our recent Expert View, these figures reflect only a portion of the full sustainable infrastructure market, as more and more generalist infrastructure investors incorporate energy transition assets in their portfolios.

 

Policy & regulatory highlights

The US Department of Energy (DOE) approved a $7.5 billion conditional loan to Stellantis and Samsung SDI to build two EV battery plants in Indiana, and $6.6 billion to Rivian to build a manufacturing plant in Georgia (E&E News 🔒). The DOE also finalized a $1.25 billion loan to EVgo to build more than 1,000 EV charging stations across the US over the next five years (DOE), a $303 million loan to Eos Energy Enterprises, a Pennsylvania manufacturer of zinc-based batteries (E&E News 🔒), and a $15 billion conditional commitment for a loan guarantee to PG&E. The latter will “support a portfolio of projects to expand hydropower generation and battery storage, upgrade transmission capacity through reconductoring and grid enhancing technologies, and enable virtual power plants throughout PG&E’s service area.” The LPO aims to close the loan before the change in administration (WSJ).

 

The US EPA announced $735 million in grants for zero-emissions heavy-duty vehicles, with 70% of the funding going toward electric school buses (EPA).

 

The US Treasury Department finalized rules for the Section 48E clean energy investment tax credit. Under the finalized rules, investors can claim a tax credit of approximately 30% of the cost of the clean energy project they are funding. The credits are a boost for offshore wind, geothermal, hydrogen, and energy storage but let’s see what the incoming administration does (E&E News 🔒, Treasury).

 

President-elect Trump shared his intent – through a post on Truth Social – to expedite the approvals and permitting processes for companies investing at least $1 billion in domestic projects (Heatmap 🔒, WSJ). Again… we’ll see.

 

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will delay enforcing the state’s new law that requires large companies to report greenhouse gas emissions. The law was supposed to go into effect in 2026, but CARB announced they won’t punish non-compliant companies that year so long as they make “good faith” data collection efforts (PoliticoPro 🔒).

 

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and Clean Path NY agreed to terminate a contract that would have connected New York City to 2 GW of new wind capacity and 1.8 GW of new solar capacity via an $11 billion, 175-mile transmission line. NYSERDA canceled the project after Clean Path sought greater subsidies from ratepayers, citing inflation and rising materials costs (E&E News 🔒).

 

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s (MISO) board approved a $30 billion package for upgrading transmission infrastructure across the Midwest, including $21.8 billion for developing a high-voltage “backbone” of 24 new regional power lines (E&E News 🔒).

 

Federal permitting reform efforts stalled as Congress failed to reach a compromise on a proposed bipartisan bill (Politico).

 

The US EPA approved California’s plan to ban gas-powered new car sales by 2035 (The Hill). The decision could also have implications for the 11 other states that adhere to California’s vehicle emissions standards.

What we're reading

Take this first one with a pinch of salt. A 20-minute, AI-generated podcast based on this month’s expert view. Not always accurate, they butcher the pronunciation of MISO and it seems overly reliant on the headings as opposed to the charts. Nonetheless, the conversation between the two “hosts” flows pretty well and captures many of the main points. Produced in 90 seconds (link)

Grid Status on what makes winter unique (link)

This isn’t a new one, but only just appeared on my radar (perhaps to my shame). The Renewables On The Rise Dashboard (link)

An inside scoop on Northvolt from its Chinese partners, sourced from WeChat (link)

Generate’s Scott Jacobs and Obvious Ventures’ Andrew Beebe reflect on the past, present, and future of climate tech (link)

The US Automotive Industry at Risk (link, h/t Reilly Brennan’s Trucks)

A study on grid and ratepayer impacts of continued data center growth (link)

How “tipping points” confuse and can distract from urgent climate action (link)

Five ways climate change is remaking US energy markets (link)

Nick van Osdol on whether the data center story is really that important (link)

Grid Strategies’ National Load Growth Report (link)

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas report on Texas microgrids boom (link)

The case for connecting North America and Europe (link)

The race for cleantech among Chinese provinces, US states, and European countries (link)

Videos: Inside an AI supercluster (link) and 4D video generation (link)

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