Utilities: Page 17

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    NYC adopts building emissions software developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter.Across the...

    By Andy Castillo • May 19, 2023
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Metal buildings: Their versatility and durability suit them for public sector infrastructure

    Metal buildings: Their versatility and durability suit them for public sector infrastructure

    By Michael Keating • May 19, 2023
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    "sunset2" by Barbara Eckstein is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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    Most of US faces elevated risk of blackouts in extreme heat this summer, NERC warns

    All areas are expected to have adequate resources for normal summer peak load, but extreme weather could create widespread challenges, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. said Wednesday.

    By Robert Walton • May 19, 2023
  • A dark blue electric bus showing a sign on the right side that reads "Nova Bus: Bring life to your city" is on a road under green trees.
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    How a federal program meant to help communities buy zero-emission buses instead favors fossil fuels: report

    A legal requirement added to the Federal Transit Administration program in 2015 led to the disparity, advocacy organization Transportation for America said.

    By • May 18, 2023
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    The future of parking in the 15-minute city

    The future of parking in the 15-minute city

    By Jeremy Zuker • May 18, 2023
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    Courtesy of New York City Department of Design and Construction
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    Q&A

    How NYC is preparing its infrastructure for extreme weather

    Thu-Loan Dinh, who helps lead infrastructure design for the city’s Department of Design and Construction, discusses the agency’s biggest resilience concerns and how to address them.

    By Julie Strupp • May 17, 2023
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    NREL energy audit tool may help cities meet climate, building decarbonization goals

    Local governments often lack the staff and resources to conduct energy audits on thousands of buildings, an engineer at the National Renewable Energy Lab said, but technology can help overcome those challenges.

    By Joe Burns • May 16, 2023
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    Dallas restores core emergency dispatch systems after ransomware attack

    “At this point, we do not have evidence or indication that there has been data removed during this attack,” Dallas CIO Bill Zielinski told city officials Monday.

    By Matt Kapko • May 9, 2023
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    How governments are updating ‘operational technologies,’ including AI, and the challenges that remain: survey

    Over half of the survey respondents reported their agency plans to upgrade systems by 2025, a Center for Digital Government and Samsara survey found. Operational efficiency and cost savings are a big reason why.

    By Michael Brady • May 4, 2023
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    New York state, NYC take steps to electrify buildings, move away from fossil fuels

    New York state, NYC take steps to electrify buildings, move away from fossil fuels

    By Andy Castillo • May 3, 2023
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    To spur geothermal heating and cooling, DOE funds 11 community-scale system design projects

    DOE will select several of the designs for development to advance community-scale geothermal systems, which are relatively uncommon in the U.S.

    By Ysabelle Kempe • May 3, 2023
  • Cranes help construct a high-speed rail section near Fresno, California.
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    California spent $1.3B in cap-and-trade funds on climate, equity projects in 2022

    The California Climate Investments funding addressed affordable housing, transportation, energy costs, extreme heat, fire, access to clean drinking water and more, a California Air Resources Board official said.

    By Kalena Thomhave • May 2, 2023
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    Affordable, all-electric and energy-efficient housing gets $15M boost from NYC initiative

    The initiative “will demonstrate to the affordable housing market a highly replicable new construction solution,” said Doreen Harris, president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

    By Ysabelle Kempe • May 2, 2023
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    Women, people of color, renters underrepresented on land-use boards: report

    Homeownership and other requirements could create barriers to participation that “function as inexplicit racial filters,” an Urban Institute report found.

    By Gaby Galvin • April 28, 2023
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    First state law banning gas in new buildings passes in New York

    The law does not include a “poison pill” provision backed by the oil and gas industry, which environmental and social justice advocates had worried would make its way into the measure.

    By Ysabelle Kempe • Updated Dec. 21, 2023
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    "Burning gas stovetop in darkened room - closeup" by Chiara Coetzee is licensed under CC BY 1.0
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    Worried about gas ban litigation? After court tosses Berkeley rule, legal experts look at cities’ options

    Other “totally lawful opportunities” exist for local governments to phase out gas in new buildings, such as through building codes, said a senior fellow at Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.

    By Ysabelle Kempe • April 27, 2023
  • Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on March 10, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
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    ARPA funds used to fill city budget gaps, Brookings analysis finds

    Spending American Rescue Plan Act funds on “revenue replacement” allowed localities to free up money for long-term priorities, such as economic development, a Brookings Metro researcher said.

    By Kalena Thomhave • April 21, 2023
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    Cybersecurity best practices for smart cities issued by CISA

    Smart city technologies are at risk “of exploitation for espionage and for financial or political gain by malicious threat actors,” according to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

    By Michael Brady • April 21, 2023
  • A row of electric vehicle chargers in a parking lot.
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    The costs and surprises of EV charging, according to convenience store retailers

    Read the EV charging station maintenance challenges, lessons learned and more from convenience and fuel operators, who are a big part of the electric vehicle charging infrastructure nationwide.

    By Brett Dworski • April 14, 2023
  • Several vehicles lined up along a curb are blurred while in the foreground a white and silver electric vehicle charger is in focus.
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    Booming EV sales amp up the pressure on cities and companies to meet charging demand

    “This is a wake-up call,” an executive at an energy management company said. “The transformation required to enable widespread vehicle electrification will be a massive challenge.”

    By • April 13, 2023
  • Construction worker wearing safety harness and safety line working at high place.
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    On infrastructure jobs, OSHA steps up workplace safety enforcement

    As federal funds flood into construction projects thanks to the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is concerned about protecting workers in the infrastructure sector.

    By Julie Strupp • April 12, 2023
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    Tighter EPA vehicle emissions standards may speed up electric vehicle transition

    The new emissions standards would apply to 2027 through 2032 model-year vehicles, but they would not mandate EVs, leaving it up to automakers to decide how to meet the rules.

    By • April 12, 2023
  • A row of electric vehicle chargers.
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    The country’s most EV-friendly metro areas

    Electric vehicle charger availability varies widely across the U.S. Of the top 10 U.S. metro areas for electric-vehicle friendliness, more than half are in California, a new report found.

    By Mary Salmonsen • April 10, 2023
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    Walmart to install EV chargers at thousands of stores by 2030

    The company noted that there’s “a store or club located within 10 miles of approximately 90% of Americans,” putting these chargers in easy reach of most electric vehicle drivers.

    By Jessica Loder • April 7, 2023
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
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    Off-grid electric vehicle charging can help cities and counties reach sustainability targets

    Editor's note: This article was originally published in American City & County, which has merged with Smart Cities Dive to bring you expanded coverage of city innovation and local government. For the latest in smart city news, explore Smart Cities Dive or sign up for our newsletter.Installing...

    By Michael Keating • April 6, 2023