Midwest Energy News

Enbridge’s Line 3 likely to miss prime construction season again

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BUILDINGS: A suburban Chicago mayor helped inspire the biggest jump in model building energy code improvements in a decade by encouraging cities to play a more active role in the process. (Energy News Network)

PIPELINES: Enbridge is likely to miss prime construction season for its proposed Line 3 pipeline replacement again as Minnesota regulators continue to evaluate the project. (Star Tribune)

***SPONSORED LINK: Applications are now open for the Veterans Advanced Energy Fellowship, a yearlong program for high-performing, high-potential military veterans in advanced energy, presented by the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center. Learn more at www.vetsenergyproject.org/fellowship.***

OIL & GAS: Youngstown, Ohio, activists appeal a federal judge’s ruling against their claim that state and local elections officials violated their constitutional rights by preventing voters from deciding on a local fracking ban. (WFMJ-TV)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Electric vehicle startup Rivian has laid off about 40 employees at its engineering and design center in Plymouth, Michigan.

Southeast Energy News

Nation’s oil and gas capital will go all-renewable this summer

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RENEWABLES: Houston will begin a five-year contract in July with NRG Energy to power all city-owned properties with renewable energy. (Bloomberg)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Oklahoma’s network of supercharger stations positions it to become a leader in electric vehicles, an advocate says. (Tulsa World)

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SOLAR:
• The chair of a South Carolina solar group says installers are having a hard time finding customers during the economic downturn. (Post and Courier)
• A recent petition could prompt federal regulators to take control of how solar customers are compensated, which could boost distributed generation in states like Tennessee and Alabama that have resisted net metering.

Southeast Energy News

San Antonio enters the fray for Tesla’s next cybertruck factory

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WIND: North Carolina takes the first step toward what observers say is a crucial study of the state’s offshore wind manufacturing potential. (Energy News Network)

ALSO:
• Amazon says it will add 615 megawatts of solar to its portfolio, including an installation in Virginia, a hotspot for corporate renewables. (Greentech Media)
• Southern Power has acquired the 56-megawatt Beech Ridge 2 wind farm in West Virginia from Invenergy for an undisclosed price. (Renews)
• Wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa appoints a new North American on-shore chief executive, based in Orlando, Florida. (Renews)  

***SPONSORED LINK: Applications are now open for the Veterans Advanced Energy Fellowship, a yearlong program for high-performing, high-potential military veterans in advanced energy, presented by the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center.

U.S. Energy News

Trump offers rent, royalty breaks for oil and gas drilling on federal land

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OIL & GAS: The Trump administration is giving companies temporary breaks on royalties and rent for extracting oil and gas on public land. (Associated Press)

ALSO:
• In clarifying its decision overturning Washington’s effort to regulate oil trains, the Trump administration says the state can’t use “safety as a pretext for inhibiting market growth.” (DeSmog)
• Microsoft’s recent pledge to go carbon negative ignores the impact of contracts with oil companies for sensors and software to support drilling. (Grist)
• An environmental group in Washington, D.C., sues ExxonMobil for misleading consumers with “false and deceptive” advertising touting clean energy investments. (DeSmog)

***SPONSORED LINK: Applications are now open for the Veterans Advanced Energy Fellowship, a yearlong program for high-performing, high-potential military veterans in advanced energy, presented by the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center. Learn more at www.vetsenergyproject.org/fellowship.***

PIPELINES: Dozens of congressional Democrats support the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s attempt to shut down the Dakota Access pipeline while a federal environmental review is completed.

U.S. Energy News

EPA staff warned Trump officials of flaws in fuel efficiency rule 

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TRANSPORTATION: The Trump administration ignored warnings from EPA staff about serious flaws with its new fuel efficiency rule that some predict will make it more vulnerable to court challenges, documents show. (Washington Post)

ALSO:
• A top executive at General Motors says the automaker is “almost there” on developing an electric vehicle battery that will last one million miles. (Reuters)
• Miami will pilot four low-powered electric-assist e-cargo bikes to be used for deliveries across the city. (Utility Dive)

***SPONSORED LINK: Applications are now open for the Veterans Advanced Energy Fellowship, a yearlong program for high-performing, high-potential military veterans in advanced energy, presented by the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center. Learn more at www.vetsenergyproject.org/fellowship.***

RENEWABLES: Global growth in renewable energy capacity this year is expected to slow for the first time in two decades, the International Energy Agency said today.