COAL: Public meetings began last week as part of a new Illinois law that requires coal plant owners to discuss their plans for closing coal ash impoundments and mitigating the risk of contamination. (Energy News Network)
ALSO: Grid operator MISO will collect weekly fuel data from generators as about 20% of the coal fleet in its territory is at high risk of fuel supply problems this winter. (S&P Global)
PIPELINES: Tribal leaders in Michigan express “cautious optimism” about the state’s recent legal maneuvering on Line 5, but express concerns about an overall lack of consultation on the issue. (MiBiz)
WIND: Ohio House Republicans reject a plan that would have added a surcharge for FirstEnergy customers in northern Ohio to support a proposed offshore wind pilot project in Lake Erie. (Cleveland.com)
GRID:
• More than 300,000 DTE Energy and Consumers Energy customers lost power over the weekend following high winds. (Detroit News)
• Grid experts warn a combination of severe weather and plant outages could lead to forced blackouts this winter up and down the central United States. (Grand Forks Herald)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: General Motors is considering a site in Lansing, Michigan, for a $2.5 billion battery cell manufacturing plant. (Detroit News)
CLIMATE: The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator says the deadly tornadoes that hit the Midwest and southern states this weekend will be the “new normal” as climate change worsens. (Huff Post)
SOLAR:
• County planning officials in eastern Kansas are set to consider restrictive solar regulations that include 2-mile buffer zones from cities and a 1,000-acre cap on project sizes. (Shawnee Mission Post)
• Strong transmission infrastructure makes a southeastern Michigan county attractive for large-scale solar projects, land use experts say. (Monroe News)
• Purdue University researchers study the potential of “aglectric” farming, which mounts solar panels 15 to 20 feet above ground to allow space for crops to grow underneath. (Times Herald)
• Western Illinois officials consider an $841,000 investment to install solar panels at a local airport that would offset energy usage and provide more than $2 million in net savings over the life of the project. (Herald-Whig)
CLEAN ENERGY: Michigan clean energy advocates call on Consumers Energy to rework its long term energy plan to retire fossil fuel generation sooner than anticipated. (MLive)
TRANSPORTATION: Minnesota is set to receive $818 million from the federal infrastructure law signed last month, which will include investments in electric buses. (Minnesota Daily)
COMMENTARY:
• Not-in-my-backyard opposition to large-scale solar projects in Iowa “jeopardizes progress for many in favor of the personal preferences of a few,” an editorial board writes. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
• New state and federal incentives mean “Illinoisans may have no better opportunity” than now to transition to electric vehicles, an editorial board writes. (Dispatch-Argus)
• The developer of a solar carport project at Michigan State University says the federal Build Back Better plan that includes clean energy tax incentives will help fuel job growth. (Lansing State Journal)