CLEAN ENERGY:
• Illinois’ new clean energy law includes incentives to build solar and storage projects at the sites of former coal facilities, though some local officials remain skeptical about making up for lost revenue. (Energy News Network)
• A Michigan agency awards two universities more than $400,000 in grants to produce roadmaps that identify funding opportunities for various clean energy technologies. (Michigan Farm News)
DEVELOPMENT: Some Detroit officials seek to expand the city’s community benefits ordinance that would allow more communities facing high-impact developments to negotiate with project developers. (Energy News Network)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Ford and a partner plan to spend $11.4 billion to build major electric vehicle battery manufacturing plants in Kentucky and Tennessee, which would create nearly 11,000 jobs. (Detroit News)
SOLAR:
• Ann Arbor, Michigan, hits a 2 MW milestone for a program that helps city residents install home solar panels, saving residents a total of $925,000 in energy costs. (MLive)
• An Illinois monastery installs solar panels that will meet a vast majority of the facility’s energy needs. (WHBF)
POLITICS: Ohio GOP officials want Columbus TV stations to remove a Democratic candidate’s campaign ad accusing her Republican opponent of playing a role in the state’s power plant bailout law at the center of a corruption scandal. (Columbus Dispatch)
WIND: Some companies seek exemptions from a new North Dakota law requiring wind farms to install technology that keeps the lights atop turbines blinking red all night. (Bismarck Tribune)
PIPELINES: Activists in Vermont protest construction on the Line 3 pipeline owned by Enbridge, which is an indirect owner of natural gas and electric utilities in Vermont. (Burlington Free Press)
TRANSMISSION: A Pennsylvania power company makes a “small” investment in a planned $2.5 billion underground transmission line between Iowa and Illinois to gain insights on the technology’s potential. (Utility Dive)
CARBON CAPTURE: U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa supports recent efforts to build out carbon dioxide pipelines as a way to combat climate change. (Globe Gazette)
UTILITIES: Ameren Missouri will hold public hearings next month on its proposed rate increase to pay for grid investments and renewable energy projects. (KFVS)
OIL & GAS: Natural gas certification, or measuring greenhouse gas emissions from gas pipelines, has been picking up steam among producers and utilities in recent years. (Reuters)
HEATING: A Minnesota agency expands the income eligibility requirements for a home-heating assistance program that will allow nearly 500,000 more people to participate this winter. (Inforum)