Midwest Energy News will not be published tomorrow, June 18, for the Juneteenth holiday. We’ll be back on Monday.
OHIO: House lawmakers vote 75-21 to expel Rep. Larry Householder nearly a year after his arrest on federal racketeering charges for his alleged role in a bribery scheme to pass a power plant bailout law. (Associated Press)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• General Motors announces plans to increase its investments in electric and autonomous vehicle technology to $35 billion through 2025 and build two new battery cell manufacturing plants in the U.S. (Detroit Free Press)
• Minnesota officials tout the potential of electric vehicles to create jobs and reduce emissions during a visit to a Twin Cities-area electric truck manufacturer. (Forum News)
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EFFICIENCY:
• An expanded energy efficiency rebate program is helping some Minneapolis small businesses build back with more efficient equipment following last summer’s civil unrest. (Sahan Journal)
• Jackson, Michigan, where Consumers Energy is headquartered, has ranked first on the U.S. EPA’s annual list of cities improving energy efficiency. (MLive)
POLICY:
• Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker says state lawmakers and interested parties remain “very, very close” to deal on a sweeping clean energy bill that failed to pass this week, though he doesn’t plan to budge on closure dates for coal and natural gas plants. (Herald & Review)
• Downstate Illinois Democrats and Republicans united in opposition to help defeat the legislation this week that would have set a timeline for closing the Prairie State coal plant. (Belleville News-Democrat)
COAL:
• Iowa environmental groups sue state utility regulators for not requiring closer study of two MidAmerican coal plants they say cost more to operate than it would to replace them with renewable alternatives. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
• Local officials in Wisconsin estimate they could lose up to $1.7 million a year in tax revenue following the anticipated closure of an Alliant Energy coal plant in the coming years. (WiscNews)
WIND:
• A western Iowa county will hold a series of public hearings later this month on proposed wind energy siting regulations that local officials developed for more than a year. (Sioux City Journal)
• A Nebraska county board extends a wind energy moratorium that’s been in place for more than a year through the end of 2021. (News Channel Nebraska)
SOLAR:
• Some local residents object to tax breaks given to First Solar for its planned manufacturing expansion in Ohio, saying direct payments from the company to local governments isn’t enough. (Sentinel-Tribune)
• County officials in Indiana approve an agreement that will exempt a solar developer from taxes in exchange for direct payments that could reach $4.1 million over several years. (Princeton Daily Clarion)
• Indiana regulators approve AES Indiana’s acquisition of a 195 MW solar project that’s expected to be completed in 2023. (Renewables Now)
GRID:
• State regulators approve AES Ohio’s plan to invest nearly $200 million in smart grid technologies. (Dayton Daily News)
• A changing generation fleet and regulatory environment are among factors that will likely lead to higher costs to move power within grid operator MISO’s system over the coming years, officials say. (S&P Global)
• Kansas utility Evergy says its power grid is prepared for the anticipated heat-related spike in demand. (WIBW)