OHIO: The state Senate unanimously passes legislation to eliminate customer fees to support two nuclear plants and other charges, sending the bill back to the House for technical revisions before it goes to the governor, two years after lawmakers passed the now scandal-tainted HB 6. (Cincinnati Enquirer)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A central Illinois town once dependent on an auto manufacturing plant is seeing new life as an electric vehicle startup takes over the facility. (CNN)
• Large U.S. utilities seek a growing role in electric vehicle services like vehicle procurement and using vehicles as distributed energy resources. (Utility Dive)
• A metro Detroit automotive supplier announces plans to boost revenue from its electric vehicle platforms by 2030. (Crain’s Detroit Business)
• Wisconsin continues to add electric vehicle charging stations but lags neighboring Illinois and Minnesota, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. (WLUK)
SOLAR:
• Missouri regulators approve Ameren’s plan for a 6 MW community solar project, which would be the utility’s largest in the state. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• As more Michigan residents install solar to reduce their electricity bills, utilities remain concerned about opening more space in programs that compensate customers who send excess power to the grid. (WXYZ)
• A 40-acre solar project is planned at a former landfill in southern Illinois near St. Louis. (Alton Telegraph)
• An Indiana solar installer relocates to a larger headquarters and hires more employees as it eyes future growth. (Inside Indiana Business)
• South Dakota regulators consider statewide rule changes that would require utilities to file decommissioning plans for solar projects. (KELO)
OIL & GAS: Attorneys general in Missouri and Nebraska join a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s pause on new oil and gas leasing on federal lands. (Reuters)
EMISSIONS: The power used at this year’s NCAA basketball tournament is being tracked and mitigated by renewable energy credits and carbon offsets to be a carbon neutral event. (Indianapolis Star)
CLIMATE: Most of the 31 candidates competing for city council seats in Madison, Wisconsin, support the city’s 100% renewable energy and net zero carbon goal by 2050, with some calling for more aggressive timeframes. (Wisconsin State Journal)
HYDROELECTRIC: A lake drawdown in southwestern Michigan to service a hydroelectric dam has led to widespread sediment in the Kalamazoo River that could take years to recover. (FOX 17)
RENEWABLES: Facebook plans to add 1 million square feet to a new Nebraska data center, which is still planned to be powered entirely by renewable energy through wind power investments. (Omaha World-Herald)
TRANSMISSION: A planned 350-mile underground transmission project from Iowa to Chicago faces at least a year long delay because of a slow interconnection process. (E&E News, subscription)