Federal regulators on Friday issued a final environmental impact statement that supports the demolition of four massive dams on Northern California’s Klamath River to save imperiled migratory salmon. The staff's recommendation, which largely echoes an earlier draft opinion, tees up a vote on the roughly $500 million project by the five-member Federal Energy Regulatory Commission later this year. The removal of the four hydroelectric dams on the lower Klamath River — one in southern Oregon and three in California — would be the largest dam demolition project in U.S. history. - ABC News

Denmark, the nation that built the world’s first offshore wind farm, has agreed to an ambitious plan for another global first – an energy island in the North Sea which could eventually be capable of supplying energy to a history-making 10 million homes. The move will create a critical boost to the world’s offshore wind capacity. - WE Forum

Hawaii is getting ready to say goodbye to its only coal power plant on Sept. 1 as part of its "aggressive push to renewable energy," according to the state's top energy official. The state received its final shipment of coal last week to the AES Hawaii power plant, located on the western side of Oahu, and  s looking toward new solar and battery storage energy projects. "It's the first large fossil fuel power plant that we're retiring," said Scott Glenn, chief energy officer at Hawaii State Energy Office. "The rest of the country is also grappling with this and we don't have the tools that the rest of the country does. ... (As an island chain) we can't reach out to others for help. It's an important step for Hawaii, and I also think it's going to be something that other states look to."- USA Today

In a year of record-high prices for fossil fuels, as lawmakers consider new policies that can help fight inflation, renewable energy is already helping to shield Americans from steep jumps in their electricity bills. For example, in Texas, even as some observers have incorrectly blamed renewables for the state’s strained power grid, more than a third of electricity in the first half of 2022 came from wind and solar projects. Wind and solar have both set records already this year. High production from renewables and high fossil fuel prices together mean wind and solar are having an outsized impact on lowering energy costs. Based on benchmark natural gas prices, RMI estimates that, on average, wind and solar projects in Texas have avoided $20 million per day in fuel that otherwise would have been needed for fossil fuel-based power plants to meet electricity demand.- RMI

The 1.32 GW Hornsea Two will dethrone the 1.2 GW Hornsea One as the largest operating offshore wind farms in the world. It’s 462 square kilometers (178 square miles) in size, and it will power more than 1.3 million homes. Hornsea Two is off the east coast of England and was developed and is owned by Danish wind giant Ørsted. It features 165 Siemens Gamesa 8 megawatt (MW) turbines; most of the wind turbines’ blades were manufactured at Siemens Gamesa’s factory in Hull. All of Hornsea Two’s wind turbines are now commercially operational. The entire project will be fully commissioned after the final reliability runs are completed, and that’s expected later this month. - Electrek

Saudi oil giant Aramco has broken its own record with a $48.4bn (£40bn) profit for the second quarter of 2022. It is a 90% year-on-year increase and marks the biggest earnings for the world's largest energy exporter since its public listing three years ago. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has seen oil and gas prices skyrocket. Russia is one of the world's biggest exporters but Western nations have pledged to curb their dependence on the country for their energy needs. According to Bloomberg, the Saudi oil giant's figure represents "the biggest quarterly adjusted profit of any listed company". As well as the record profits, the state-owned Saudi energy giant announced it would keep its dividend unchanged at $18.8bn for the third quarter. - BBC

The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is a once-in-a-career opportunity, permanently shifting the course of both the US economy and global climate to a better future. And it represents the culmination of decades of work by RMI — our experts and analysis played a direct role advancing key provisions — along with countless other NGOs, businesses, communities, scientists, and policymakers The full implications of the nearly 800-page bill continue to be assessed. But early modeling suggests its incentives will drive dramatic emission reductions: at least 40 percent by 2030, just shy of US commitments to lower emissions by half in that time. - RMI

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced Tuesday her intent to file legislation that potentially would allow for the elimination of fossil fuels in new construction or major renovations, following in the footsteps of regulations in New York City, Seattle and Washington, D.C. The city’s pursuit of such building standards follows Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, R, signing a major climate bill last week. The state law establishes a pilot program that will allow 10 municipalities to create local policies restricting the use of fossil fuels in new construction projects. Those policies intend to spur the adoption of cleaner technologies to power buildings, such as electric heat pumps. - Smart Cities Dive

The push for carbon-free energy will drive the growth of small modular reactors, or SMRs, with 300 of them expected to be online by 2050 supplying 731 TWh of power, according to the results of a survey the Nuclear Energy Institute conducted with a subset of its member utilities and released Aug. 5. - Utility Dive

​The Arizona Corporation Commission on Tuesday voted 4-1 to deny an 820-MW expansion at a gas plant proposed by Salt River Project. Regulators said there was insufficient evidence in the record to make a decision, and the expansion would put too much pressure on the nearby, historically-Black community of Randolph. - Utility Dive