ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Electric trucks alone won’t resolve environmental justice concerns around a distribution center being built at a former coal plant site in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, residents say. (Energy News Network)
ALSO:
• Minnesota manufacturers are developing electric versions of specialty vehicles such as RVs, lawn mowers, floor scrubbers, and off-road vehicles. (Star Tribune)
• Charging stations are springing up in Minnesota communities, but more are needed for electric vehicles to continue their expected trajectory. (Star Tribune)
• Wisconsin regulators approve two utility electric vehicle pilot programs for residential and commercial customers. (Wisconsin Public Radio)
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PIPELINES:
• Tribes in Michigan look to assert treaty rights to help shut down Line 5 and block a planned pipeline tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac. (MLive)
• Dakota Access pipeline opponents ask a federal judge to require the developer and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide monthly updates on an extensive environmental review of the project. (Associated Press)
• The Minnesota Court of Appeals hears oral arguments in a case challenging a state water permit awarded for the Line 3 pipeline. (Duluth News Tribune)
• Nebraska pipeline opponents say eminent domain concerns remain despite the cancelation of the Keystone XL project. (Omaha World-Herald)
COAL: An expected compromise energy bill in Illinois would require the 1,600 MW Prairie State Energy Campus to close by 2035, more than a decade ahead of schedule. (E&E News, subscription)
UTILITIES: Negotiations continue between the city of Chicago and ComEd over a long-term power supply contract as the city weighs other suppliers. (WBEZ)
SOLAR:
• A northern Michigan city balked at multiple new solar projects after bids for projects farther out in the state came in cheaper. (Traverse City Record-Eagle)
• Developers complete work on two solar projects totaling 40 MW of capacity in Michigan. (Solar Power World)
• A planned $7 million solar project is expected to supply about 30% of an Iowa college’s electricity needs. (Radio Iowa)
OIL & GAS: North Dakota’s first disposal facility for radioactive oil and gas waste opens, and more could be on the way. (Bismarck Tribune)
WIND: Townships in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are set to hold public hearings on a proposed 12-turbine wind project. (Daily Mining Gazette)
COMMENTARY:
• A Minnesota farming advocate says Gov. Tim Walz’s vehicle emissions plan would “disproportionately hurt Minnesota’s biofuels producers and devastate Minnesota’s agriculture community.” (Duluth News Tribune)
• An Illinois Republican lawmaker says the framework of an energy plan expected to be voted on this week would increase costs for ratepayers through utility bailouts. (Effingham Daily News)