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EPA and Texas Railroad Commission Sign Memorandum of Agreement for Permitting Geologic Storage of Carbon Dioxide

LCG, April 29, 2025--Officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) today outlining the state’s plans to administer programs related to carbon storage wells, known as Class VI wells. The MOA signing is a required step in the RRC’s application to be granted authority to permit Class VI wells in the state of Texas. EPA is currently preparing a proposed approval of RRC’s primacy application.

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Calpine and ExxonMobil Sign CO2 Transportation and Storage Agreement for CCS Project in Texas

LCG, April 24, 2025--Exxon Mobil Corporation (ExxonMobil) announced yesterday an agreement with Calpine Corporation (Calpine) to transport and permanently store up to 2 million metric tons per annum (MTA) of CO2 from Calpine’s Baytown Energy Center, a natural gas-fired facility located near Houston, Texas. This is part of Calpine’s Baytown Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Project that is designed to add CCS for the facility’s CO2 emissions. The Calpine facility could then provide a 24/7 supply of low-carbon electricity to the Texas grid plus steam to nearby industrial facilities.

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Industry News

Wind Turbines May Face Face Migratory Bird Restrictions

LCG, December 19, 2002-Wind turbine developers may have to alter their plans for a Maryland wind farm because of the danger the turbines may pose to migrating birds.

Several companies interested in building wind power facilities in Maryland may face certain new restrictions regarding when wind turbines may operate. State regulators are interested in mandating shutdown periods in order to protect migrating birds who could otherwise be killed by the large rotating blades.

Some people, such as the State House Speaker Casper Taylor, Jr., may find this concern ludicrous, noting that birds do not tend to fly into large moving objects. However, bird and bat deaths have been noted at wind farms before, particularly during cloudy nights.

The Sierra Club has taken the position that a more thorough study should be undertaken regarding the actual rates of bird deaths before permits are issued. Conversely, state regulators believe that the plants should be built and then bird mortality can be monitored.

U.S. Wind Force, one of the companies interested in building a wind farm, has already agreed to shut down its turbines for 18 hours per year if over 200 birds or bats are killed per windmill in one 24 hour period, or 5,000 birds in one day, a very large number by any estimate. Some endangered bird species have populations of less than 1,000.

Clipper Windpower, another interested company, has also agreed to the 5,000 bird or bat deaths per 24 hour period and has promised to shut down turbines for up to 53.7 hours per year. The longer shutdown was allotted to Clipper because of estimated greater bird activity at the project site.

The Maryland Public Service Commission will hold hearings on January 7 and 14 for the Clipper and U.S. Wind Power's projects respectively.

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