UTILITIES: Xcel Energy’s long-term energy plan that includes potentially building two natural gas peaking plants draws scrutiny from advocates who say clean energy and battery storage could play a larger role. (Energy News Network)
CARBON CAPTURE:
• An Indiana company wants state lawmakers to protect it from liability claims that might result from injecting carbon deep underneath property it doesn’t own without permission from landowners. (Energy News Network)
• A Farm Bureau official in Illinois urges landowners to use caution when dealing with land surveyors for a company developing a carbon dioxide pipeline. (WGEM)
PIPELINES:
• Opponents say a proposed tunnel to house Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac could become a stranded asset within 20 years based on an Enbridge depreciation study of the broader Lakehead pipeline system. (MLive)
• A year after piercing an aquifer in northern Minnesota while building the Line 3 pipeline, Enbridge says it has stopped the uncontrolled flow of groundwater. (MPR News)
• U.S. House Republicans and the fossil fuel industry oppose legislation that would direct federal regulators to develop reliability and cybersecurity standards for natural gas pipelines. (Utility Dive)
COAL: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot rejects calls to release a full inspector general investigation into the botched April 2020 demolition of a former coal plant smokestack in the city’s Little Village neighborhood. (WTTW)
NUCLEAR: Indiana legislation would direct state regulators to adopt rules for building small nuclear reactors and offer financial incentives. (WFYI)
RENEWABLES: A surge in demand coupled with difficulty in procuring supplies is contributing to higher costs for wind and solar power, though experts are optimistic for the sector’s ongoing growth. (Inside Climate News)
SOLAR:
• Ameren is working with organizations to include a solar installation at a recently completed hub for more than 20 nonprofits in St Louis. (KSDK)
• South Bend, Indiana launches an initiative to provide free energy assessments, grants and optional low-interest loans to help local organizations install solar projects. (Inside Indiana Business)
• Polling released by Audubon Great Lakes shows strong bipartisan support among voters to keep and expand policies like solar net metering. (WBIW)
NATURAL GAS: A Michigan lawmaker introduces a bill that would preempt local governments from adopting rules that ban the use of natural gas in homes or businesses. (Monroe News)
WIND: North Dakota regulators reject another wind farm operator’s request for an extension to comply with a state law requiring technology to mitigate blinking lights on top of turbines at night. (Bismarck Tribune)