SOLAR:
• Kansas utility Evergy faces widespread public opposition to its proposed rates for residential customers with solar installations. (Wichita Eagle)
• Residents begin to organize opposition to a planned large-scale solar project in southwestern Indiana. (WEHT)
RENEWABLES: Legacy North Dakota coal plants are increasingly competing with lower cost renewables like wind energy, which still face transmission and infrastructure challenges as developers seek to build new projects. (Prairie Business)
PIPELINES:
• Indigenous activists contrast the lighthanded police response to Wednesday’s failed insurrection at the U.S. Capitol with aggressive responses to peaceful, unarmed pipeline protests. (Great Falls Tribune, Indian Country Today)
• The Bay Mills Indian Community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is refusing to help Enbridge with a cultural resource survey in the Straits of Mackinac where the company seeks to tunnel Line 5. (WPBN)
• Minnesota regulators and Indigenous communities have raised concerns about the potential for increased sex trafficking during Line 3 replacement construction; Enbridge “absolutely rejects” the assertion. (Star Tribune)
• Tribal leaders and advocates are concerned that Keystone XL worker camps could become dangerous sources of COVID-19 outbreaks for Indigenous communities. (High Country News)
WIND: A mid-Michigan township’s recently adopted wind energy ordinance faces a likely referendum in the coming months as some residents opposed plans for a utility-scale project. (Daily News)
NUCLEAR: A coalition of Illinois labor groups is calling on state lawmakers to prevent two Exelon nuclear plants from closing, which they say would devastate communities and schools. (Northern Public Radio)
OIL & GAS: North Dakota’s oil industry is pushing legislation that would ease the amount of interest and penalties the state can charge for unpaid oil and gas royalties. (Bismarck Tribune)
AIR POLLUTION: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration has taken steps toward stricter air pollution enforcement but it’s unclear whether they’re working, a city watchdog reports. (Chicago Sun-Times)
UTILITIES: Madison Gas and Electric expects to reduce carbon emissions 65% by 2030 and reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, the utility says in its latest corporate responsibility report. (Daily Energy Insider)
COAL: U.S. coal production sees a slight rebound over last week but is still down nearly 20% from the same period a year ago. (S&P Global)
COMMENTARY: An environmental attorney says Iowa can’t rest on its clean energy laurels and should seek to expand community solar and adopt fair renewable energy siting standards. (Des Moines Register)