EFFICIENCY: Kansas City officials delay further action on regulations to strengthen energy efficiency in the city’s building codes, potentially leading to less stringent rules. (Energy News Network)
PIPELINES:
• A northern Minnesota sheriff seeks to balance public safety with the peaceful expression of free speech in his approach with Line 3 pipeline opponents. (MPR News)
• A crude oil pipeline system in Montana and North Dakota remains embroiled in legal disputes after the Biden administration sought to vacate previous decisions involving fines, damages and trespassing on tribal land. (Williston Herald)
UTILITIES:
• Three FirstEnergy electricity providers will refund money to customers that was collected under a guaranteed revenue provision included in the state’s scandal-tainted power plant bailout law. (WTOL)
• Minnesota’s attorney general says the state’s utilities mismanaged natural gas purchases in the wake of the February cold weather snap and overbilled customers by about $380 million. (Star Tribune)
SOLAR:
• An Illinois homeowners association sues two member property owners, claiming their rooftop solar panels are an eyesore. (FOX 2)
• An Indiana county seeks public feedback on a proposed ordinance meant to guide the future development of all types of solar projects. (Kokomo Tribune)
• A new 1.6 MW solar and 6 MW storage project was recently completed in northeastern Nebraska. (Norfolk Daily News)
OIL & GAS: The CEO of a natural gas pipeline operator that was recently spun off from DTE Energy eyes future expansion and development of carbon capture and storage to limit emissions. (S&P Global)
WIND:
• Iowa officials claim an out-of-state company is illegally storing hundreds of wind turbine blades across three towns. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
• Federal data show wind turbine technicians are poised to be the fastest-growing occupation in the U.S. this decade. (KCRW)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Local officials in Indiana approve plans for a “high end” electric vehicle showroom that some have speculated is for Tesla. (South Bend Tribune)
CLIMATE: Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson doubles down on his comments claiming climate change is “bullshit” while insisting he is “not a climate change denier.” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
COMMENTARY:
• Enbridge is “willfully trespassing” in Michigan and Wisconsin as state officials and tribes in both places oppose the company’s Line 5 expansion, a business owner and pipeline critic says. (Michigan Advance)
• A Wisconsin lawmaker says the state should be doing more to invest in and promote the widespread deployment of electric vehicles. (Wisconsin State Journal)