Monday, 14 September 2026

A proposal from the EPA would eliminate limits on greenhouse gas pollution from coal and gas power plants, according to a New York Times report cited by Electrek.

The report is based on two people familiar with the proposal, according to Electrek's account of the New York Times story.

The current power plant pollution limits were put in place by Presidents Obama and Biden and were set to provide USD 120 billion in public health benefits over the next two decades, Electrek reported.

Venezuela plans to send representatives to the G20 energy ministerial, though the delegation will skip formal closed-door meetings and instead join bilateral sessions, side events and industry discussions, according to World Oil.

Hydrocarbons minister Paula Henao will attend, joined by Jovanny Martinez, who serves as executive vice president at state-owned PDVSA, World Oil reported.

World Oil also reported an oil deal announced by Trump that hands a 35% equity stake in North American Blue Energy Partners and a right to purchase 20% of its crude output at cost from Venezuelan fields. Those fields hold an estimated 65 billion barrels of proven reserves, according to the same report.

Russia will also take part in the ministerial, ambassador Marat Berdyev, who handles G20 matters, wrote on Telegram.

Australia's Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council has signed off on national rules governing energy devices in homes and small businesses, PV Magazine reported.

Running from 2026 to 2029, the Consumer Energy National Technical Regulatory Framework was drafted jointly by the federal government and the states and territories.

Under the framework, a technical code for consumer energy resources (CERs) will spell out product requirements, the categories of equipment in scope, and deemed-to-satisfy pathways. A new body, the Consumer Energy National Technical Regulator (CENTR), is to enforce the code.

Equipment falling inside the code must clear mandatory certification and independent testing, with CENTR issuing certifications and maintaining a public register of approved CER products, PV Magazine said.

Installers handling any CER product regulated by the code will also need accreditation under a nationally consistent scheme.

Drafting of the technical code sits with Australia's Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, and revisions are scheduled every two years subject to ministerial sign-off, according to PV Magazine.

The Iowa Utilities Commission is moving toward hearings on the second phase of Summit Carbon Solutions' proposed carbon dioxide pipeline, which would add hundreds of miles to a project already tangled in litigation, according to Inside Climate News.

Summit Carbon Transport, an affiliate of Summit Carbon Solutions leading the second phase, has asked the commission to expedite its draft schedule and reach a decision on the dockets by the end of the year, rather than hold the currently scheduled final hearing in late February, Inside Climate News reported.

The original design aimed to move CO2 from ethanol plants across the Corn Belt to North Dakota for underground storage, per Inside Climate News, but court challenges over the company's plan to use eminent domain to acquire land have derailed that route. South Dakota has since banned the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines, and a North Dakota judge revoked Summit's permit to store CO2 underground in the state, according to the outlet.

Summit has said it is now considering destinations in Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado and Kansas, Inside Climate News reported. In September 2025, the company petitioned the Iowa Utilities Commission for permission to amend its permit and strip out language specifying a route or destination for the pipeline.

California's state Legislature has passed two bills to streamline permitting and inspections for clean energy home installations, according to Canary Media. The outlet describes the measures as first-in-the-nation.

The legislation covers rooftop solar, home batteries, and heat pumps, and is intended to cut red tape around residential clean energy projects, Canary Media reported.

According to the same report, the bills aim to make it easier and cheaper for Californians to install rooftop solar, home batteries, and energy-saving heat pumps and heat-pump water heaters.