SOLAR: A new online marketplace hopes to accelerate community solar development by connecting developers and potential subscribers in nine states, including Illinois and Minnesota. (Energy News Network)
ALSO:
• Dominion Energy acquires a 150 MW solar project in northwestern Ohio. (LimaOhio.com)
• Alliant Energy donates $90,000 in community solar subscriptions to a local Habitat for Humanity group. (WFRV)
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COAL: Small Ohio communities with large legacy coal plants grapple with their future and pollution clean up as the plants near decommissioning. (Columbus Dispatch)
POLICY:
• A Republican Kansas lawmaker calls for the state to implement an energy plan to guide its transition to renewable energy sources. (Wichita Eagle)
• A federal appeals court strikes down the Trump administration’s Affordable Clean Energy rule that would have relaxed restrictions on power plants’ greenhouse gas emissions. (New York Times)
OHIO:
• An FBI investigation helped uncover the dark money political spending of FirstEnergy and several nonprofits despite state and federal law not requiring political nonprofits to disclose their donors. (Cleveland.com)
• Two Toledo-area attorneys are among six finalists for a five-year term on the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. (Toledo Blade)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Startup manufacturer Rivian raises $2.65 billion in a new round of financing as it moves closer to production of its electric pickup truck. (Automotive News)
• A coalition of more than two dozen electric cooperatives seek to build out an electric vehicle charging network in the Midwest. (WSAW)
OIL & GAS:
• An explosion at a North Dakota oil tank battery sent 14 tanks up in flames and caused oil and brine to spill. (Bismarck Tribune)
• North Dakota Republicans want to use 20% of the revenue coming into the state’s oil tax savings account to finance infrastructure projects across the state. (Associated Press)
WIND:
• A southwestern Iowa county board takes no action on a proposed moratorium on wind development after hearing from both supporters and opponents. (KMA Land)
• An Indianapolis company is awarded a contract to build a 300 MW wind project in Illinois. (Inside Indiana Business)
COMMENTARY:
• Ohio’s HB 6 is “Exhibit A” for why it’s critical for state lawmakers to inject more transparency in political spending from “dark money” nonprofit groups, an editorial board says. (Cleveland.com)
• A board member for the Omaha Public Power District says Nebraska is making progress on some clean energy goals but more progress is needed on energy efficiency and demand management. (Omaha World-Herald)
• The president of the Nebraska Farmers Union calls for a county that’s reviewing its wind regulations to follow the science and strike a better balance that encourages wind farm development. (Lincoln Journal Star)