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This public information pamphlet, produced by Natural Justice, notifies the public about Motuoane Energy's application to convert an exploration right into a production right for helium and methane gas in the Free State province of South Africa. It outlines the planned infrastructure and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, inviting interested and affected parties to submit comments by February 23, 2026.

This policy brief by RMI argues that virtual power plants (VPPs)—aggregations of distributed energy resources like batteries and smart thermostats—have reached a scale capable of replacing traditional power plants but are not being adequately integrated into utility long-term planning. The document highlights that while VPPs are increasingly mentioned in regulatory filings, they are often not modeled as selectable resources on an equal footing with conventional generation, leading to a risk of inefficient grid overbuilding.

This policy brief by RMI examines the critical shortages in the United States' electric grid supply chain, noting that demand for hardware has surged since 2019 due to load growth and grid modernization. The document details the risks of high import reliance and proposes a three-pronged federal strategy—easing near-term bottlenecks, expanding domestic production, and promoting innovation—to secure the supply chain, reduce costs, and foster economic growth.

This briefing analyzes the PJM Board's January 2026 decision regarding the Critical Issue Fast Path for Large Load Additions (CIFP-LLA). It outlines how states within the PJM region can implement retail-level policies—such as specialized tariffs and improved forecasting—to manage the surge in data center electricity demand without increasing costs for residential ratepayers or compromising grid reliability.

Heat pumps are increasingly cost-competitive with gas furnaces due to their superior efficiency, producing two to five times more heat than the electricity they consume. In the U.S., residential heat pumps have outsold gas furnaces for four years, and their adoption in industry could boost GDP by over $50 billion by 2050. Other alternatives like hydrogen are deemed less viable due to higher costs, safety risks, and lower efficiency.

The Centre for Environmental Rights and Natural Justice, representing several community and environmental networks, submitted formal objections to the Scoping Report for the Motuoane Production Right application. The project proposes hydrocarbon exploration and extraction over approximately 14,400 hectares in the Free State Province, involving up to 43 production wells and associated infrastructure. The objectors argue that the Scoping Report is deficient in its assessments of air quality, climate change, hydrogeology, and social impacts, and that the public participation process was not meaningful.

This expert report, prepared by Sustainable Surface and Groundwater Solutions (SSGS) for the Centre for Environmental Rights, reviews the revised groundwater component of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for Tetra4 (Pty) Ltd's proposed Cluster 2 expansion of a natural gas field near Virginia, Free State Province. The review concludes that the assessment is fundamentally flawed in its methodology, data interpretation, and numerical modeling, rendering it an unreliable basis for decision-making.

This RMI briefing argues that aging coal-fired power plants are an unreliable and inflexible solution for meeting the rising electricity demand driven by the data center boom in the United States. The document asserts that clean, scalable resources such as battery storage and demand flexibility are better suited to the real-time operational needs of data centers and can meet over 95 percent of future demand.

This policy brief by RMI outlines six strategic priorities for U.S. states to optimize federal funding and accelerate clean energy deployment following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). The document emphasizes the urgency of acting before federal incentives phase out, focusing on fleet electrification, permitting and interconnection reform, financial gap filling, energy affordability, home energy rebates, and cleantech manufacturing innovation.

The Centre for Environmental Rights, on behalf of MACUA and MEJCON-SA and jointly with Natural Justice, submitted formal objections to the Motuoane Exploration Right 386 application. The submission argues that the project's scoping report is deficient in its assessment of climate change, air quality, and groundwater impacts, and that the public participation process was exclusionary and legally inadequate.

A community guide regarding a gas exploration application by Motuoane Energy (Pty) Ltd in the Free State province of South Africa.

The Centre for Environmental Rights, representing MEJCON-SA and MACUA, has filed an appeal response report challenging the Environmental Authorisation (EA) granted to Tetra4 (Pty) Ltd for its Gas Gathering and Production Project in Virginia, Free State. The appellants argue that Tetra4 used a Basic Assessment Report (BAR) process to circumvent more rigorous Scoping and EIA requirements for the drilling of 18 additional wells, effectively 'project splitting' to avoid comprehensive environmental scrutiny. The report highlights critical failures in assessing climate change and geohydrology impacts, inadequate public participation—specifically the exclusion of farm workers and dwellers—and a lack of state capacity to monitor and enforce compliance in the oil and gas sector.

In 2024, wind and solar combined to produce 17% of US electricity, surpassing coal (15%) for the first time. While electricity demand rose by 3%, solar generation grew by 27%, adding more generation than gas to meet this demand. Despite the growth in clean energy, overall power sector CO2 emissions rose slightly by 0.7% because gas generation increased to meet rising demand, though carbon intensity reached a record low.

In 2024, wind and solar combined to produce 17% of US electricity, surpassing coal for the first time nationwide. This shift is driven by market dynamics, cost-effective renewables, and state-level policies, with 24 states now generating more electricity from wind and solar than from coal.

This report by the World Resources Institute analyzes the state of clean energy in the United States through 2024, highlighting record growth in solar and battery storage alongside significant headwinds including grid capacity limits, rising local opposition, and policy uncertainty under the Trump administration.

A Global Energy Monitor briefing reports a surge in proposed gas-fired power plants in the United States, driven by speculation over AI energy demand. While the U.S. now has the world's second-largest pipeline of such projects, most remain in early development stages, risking billions in stranded assets if demand forecasts prove inaccurate.

This report by RMI examines the challenges of forecasting large electricity loads—such as data centers and advanced manufacturing—in the United States. It argues that traditional forecasting methods are insufficient for the rapid growth and unique operational characteristics of these loads, which can lead to risks in grid reliability and customer affordability. The document provides a framework for understanding load characteristics, outlines best practices for utilities, and offers specific regulatory actions to ensure forecasts are thorough, up-to-date, and validated.

RMI has developed the State CDR Atlas, a screening tool designed to help US state policymakers and industry actors identify the most promising carbon dioxide removal (CDR) approaches for their specific geographies and evaluate the readiness of their policy and regulatory environments.

RMI analysis indicates that Illinois could achieve significant household cost savings, pollution reduction, and public health improvements by adopting three clean transportation strategies: vehicle electrification standards, climate-driven agency planning, and renewed investments in state transit systems.

This expert report, prepared by geologist and hydrogeologist Steven K. Campbell for the Centre for Environmental Rights, critiques the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for Tetra4 (Pty) Ltd’s proposed Cluster 2 gas production expansion near Virginia, Free State Province, South Africa. Campbell argues that the project's geologic and hydrogeologic frameworks are based on insufficient site-specific data, leading to unreliable groundwater flow models and flawed contamination simulations for methane and total dissolved solids (TDS). He concludes that the expansion should not be approved until critical data gaps are filled and a robust monitoring and remediation plan is established.