WIND: A bipartisan coalition of 32 northeastern Ohio lawmakers urge state regulators to reconsider their “puzzling” decision on a Lake Erie offshore wind project that developers have said would effectively kill the plan. (Energy News Network)
ALSO: A southeastern Nebraska county is holding a public hearing on commercial wind energy regulations as NextEra seeks to build a $225 million project there. (Beatrice Daily Sun)
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EMISSIONS: U.S. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said last week in Ohio that he had not read a study linking the agency’s relaxed enforcement during the pandemic with air pollution increases and elevated COVID-19 cases and deaths. (Energy News Network)
UTILITIES:
• The chair of the Illinois Commerce Commission declines to recuse herself during hearings involving ComEd after her father-in-law was identified as being involved in the ComEd bribery scandal. (WBEZ)
• ComEd officials insist the company’s wrongdoing was “misconduct” — not a crime — and orchestrated by “a few” former staffers. (Crain’s Chicago Business)
• FirstEnergy and AEP leaders distance themselves from an alleged $60 million bribery scheme as they seek to help their stock prices recover. (Utility Dive)
• Environmental and consumer advocates appeal Indiana regulators’ approval last month of a Duke Energy rate case that would increase average residential bills by $15 a month. (Indianapolis Star)
PIPELINES: Michigan’s attorney general will not appeal a court ruling that an agreement to build a tunnel for Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac was constitutional. (Detroit News)
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: A University of Michigan professor discusses how bringing more energy efficiency programs to low-income households promotes energy equity. (Grist)
SOLAR: The Minnesota Court of Appeals overturns a county’s rejection of two proposed solar gardens, saying permit denials were not issued within 120 days. (Mankato Free Press)
OIL & GAS: Enbridge reports that its crude volumes and finances rebounded more quickly than expected from the pandemic but that they may not fully recover until late 2021. (S&P Global)
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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: General Motors unveils more details about its Hummer electric pickup truck, which is set to start production in fall 2021. (CNET)
COMMENTARY:
• Ten years after one of the worst inland pipeline spills in U.S. history, Enbridge continues to raise safety concerns about its Line 5 pipeline, critics say. (Detroit News)
• Advocates say the proposed Clean Energy Jobs Act would deliver 100% clean energy to Illinois, good-paying jobs and “center equity at every step of the way.” (Natural Resources Defense Council)