TRANSPORTATION: The loss of gasoline and diesel tax revenue as drivers transition to electric vehicles could pose big challenges for state and local budgets in Ohio and elsewhere, according to a recent report. (Energy News Network)
ALSO:
• The Indiana Senate passes a bill allowing businesses to sell electric vehicle charging without being subject to state utility regulations, though the power would have to come from a local utility. (Indiana Public Media)
• Kansas City area officials want to use federal infrastructure funding to build a transportation corridor that relies on electric buses and upgrades pedestrian and bicycle options. (FOX 4)
UTILITIES: Skyrocketing natural gas prices and brutally cold temperatures have created hardship for a growing number of Minnesota residents struggling to pay their utility bills. (Minnesota Reformer)
SOLAR:
• Southwestern Indiana county officials begin discussing a proposed 200 MW solar project. (WEVV)
• Municipal utility officials in northern Michigan agree to an amended contract with a developer that will grow a project’s solar capacity by 2 MW while retiring an aging wind turbine. (Traverse City Record-Eagle)
PIPELINES: Michigan environmental groups present the potential climate impacts of Line 5’s ongoing operation to state regulators. (9 and 10 News)
WIND: A developer proposes an 80 MW wind project in northern Illinois. (News Tribune)
GRID: Indiana Michigan Power plans to invest $56 million to build two high-voltage transmission lines and improve reliability in southwestern Michigan. (WKZO)
ACTIVISM: 350.org, a prominent environmental group led by author Bill McKibben that helped stop the Keystone XL pipeline, faces internal dissension and overspending as it continues to scale up. (Politico)
PUMPED STORAGE: Indiana House lawmakers pass a bill that defines underground pumped storage hydropower as a clean energy source, which supporters say could be deployed at abandoned mines and quarries. (WFYI)
CLEAN TECH: U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says he was “really impressed” with an electric vehicle and energy storage manufacturing training academy in Bloomington, Illinois. (WMBD)
OIL & GAS:
• Iowa natural gas customers are still facing bill charges stemming from the spike in demand during the February 2021 polar vortex. (Telegraph Herald)
• Rising oil prices could lead to more exploration and drilling in Kansas, operators say. (KSNW)
COMMENTARY: A nuclear engineer says Ohio’s manufacturing sector and skilled workforce position the state well to develop advanced nuclear technology. (Columbus Dispatch)