WIND: An appeal by two condo owners challenging a Lake Erie offshore wind project has a narrow path to success at the Ohio Supreme Court after state regulators signed off on the project. (Energy News Network)
COAL:
• Vistra Energy announces plans to close a southwestern Ohio coal plant in May 2022 — roughly five years earlier than expected — after failing to secure profitable rates to sell the power. (WCPO)
• An Indiana municipal utility plans to demolish a former coal plant that closed in 2016. (Inside Indiana Business)
• An Iowa municipal utility looks to replace its coal-fired power with renewables and a new natural gas plant in an attempt to reduce emissions without causing rates to spike. (WQAD)
PIPELINES:
• Local officials in Madison, Wisconsin, plan to introduce resolutions opposing Enbridge’s pipeline plans in Wisconsin and Minnesota. (Wisconsin State Journal)
• Indigenous author and activist Winona LaDuke was among several people arrested as they protested Line 3 pipeline work in northern Minnesota. (KVRR)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: General Motors confirms plans that it will offer a full-size electric pickup truck “in due course.” (Detroit News)
SOLAR:
• Consumers Energy unveils a new solar project at the site of a former contaminated industrial property in northern Michigan. (Cadillac News)
• Developers begin a public information campaign to build support for a planned 350 MW solar project northeast of Columbus, Ohio. (Newark Advocate)
GRID: Federal regulators announce plans to develop reforms for a transmission construction process that has stalled large projects. (Utility Dive)
BIOFUELS: Two Minnesota Democrats in Congress seek to revive a rule recently struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court that allows for year-round sales of ethanol. (Star Tribune)
RENEWABLES: Alliant Energy announces that more than 40% of its power sold in Iowa in 2020 came from renewable sources. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
UTILITIES: Some Ohio residents see their electric bills spike based on estimated charges while in-person meter readings stopped during the pandemic. (Cleveland.com)
COMMENTARY:
• Clean energy developers say Illinois lawmakers’ inability to reach a deal over an energy bill “sends a message to the market that Illinois is closed to renewable energy.” (Chicago Sun-Times)
• Environmental advocates say an Illinois energy deal is needed to address the immediate threats of climate change. (Natural Resources Defense Council)
• The Biden administration should be aggressive in its attempts to reduce transportation-sector emissions, says the head of an Iowa faith-based clean energy group. (Des Moines Register)