EFFICIENCY: All of Missouri’s major natural gas and electric utilities are launching programs that finance customers’ energy efficiency upgrades and in many cases lower monthly bills. (Energy News Network)
POLITICS:
• A longtime coal lobbyist is facing off against a health policy expert for an Ohio congressional seat that represents an area with both large-scale solar energy proposals and old coal mining areas. (Energy News Network)
• Exelon’s political action committee was among the large campaign contributors to U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, who opposes key environmental programs in congressional Democrats’ proposed $3.5 trillion spending bill. (Bloomberg)
PIPELINES: Enbridge misses an Oct. 15 deadline to clean up the site of an aquifer that ruptured during Line 3 construction and leaked at least 24 million gallons of groundwater. (Star Tribune)
CLEAN ENERGY:
• Wisconsin officials are gathering public input on the Evers administration’s long-term clean energy plan that calls for carbon-free electricity generation statewide by 2050. (Wisconsin State Journal)
• Illinois’ new sweeping clean energy law that phases out fossil fuel plants by 2045 includes the formation of 13 workforce hubs that will provide clean energy jobs training. (Illinois Radio Network)
• U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was in Minnesota last week promoting federal plans to speed up clean energy development. (Star Tribune)
EMISSIONS:
• The Minnesota-based McKnight Foundation will continue cutting heavy emitters from the organization’s $3 billion portfolio as part of a net-zero by 2050 goal. (Reuters)
• A Dutch chemical company agrees to pay $50 million to resolve alleged state and federal air pollution violations at petrochemical manufacturing plants in Texas and Iowa. (Des Moines Register)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Michigan-based battery startup company raised $25 million in a recent fundraising round that was led by Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures. (Bloomberg)
SOLAR: State regulators will hold a public hearing later this month on a proposed 200 MW solar project in southeastern Minnesota. (Post Bulletin)
OIL & GAS:
• An attorney representing the operator of a natural gas pipeline that runs from southern Illinois to St. Louis says there is a “real risk of gas outages” if federal regulators force the pipeline to close. (KSDK)
• A natural gas pipeline operator has negotiated easements with most landowners, including those it filed suit against in federal court, affected by a proposed project in eastern South Dakota. (Argus Leader)
• Michigan’s natural gas storage capacity, market practices and untapped reserves position the state better than most others ahead of expected price spikes this winter, experts say. (MLive)
• A federal judge in North Dakota rules in favor of an oil company in a dispute involving royalties paid to the state, which could affect other drillers that allegedly owe the state millions of dollars in payments. (Associated Press)
UTILITIES:
• DTE Energy is so far taking a neutral position on a proposal for Ann Arbor, Michigan, to create its own renewable energy utility; the city is currently served by the Detroit-based DTE. (MLive)
• More than $270 million in rental and utility assistance is still available for Missouri residents who may have struggled to pay bills during the pandemic. (Daily Journal)
GRID: A study by a Michigan-based transmission operator says locating new renewable energy projects near existing grid infrastructure would help lower costs for customers. (Gongwer)