SOLAR:
• Ohio regulators will hold a series of workshops next month for drafting statewide siting rules for solar and other energy facilities, days before a new state law takes effect that would allow municipalities to block solar and wind projects. (Energy News Network)
• A solar developer awards grants to four southeastern Michigan community organizations as the company plans a utility-scale solar project there. (Monroe News)
PIPELINES: The Dakota Access pipeline developer asks the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit a lower court ruling calling for an additional environmental review of the project. (Reuters)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Production resumes at two Michigan plants that manufacture battery modules for GM’s Chevrolet Bolt. (Detroit News)
POWER PLANTS: A municipally owned utility in western Michigan drops plans to replace a former coal plant with a $27 million, natural gas-powered peaker plant after public opposition. (MLive, subscription)
CLIMATE:
• Indiana lawmakers show varying levels of support for carbon fee and dividend plans that have been proposed in Congress. (Indianapolis Star)
• A Wisconsin climate advocacy group hires its first executive director to take on a more active role as the group’s campaigns grow broader and more complex. (Wisconsin State Journal)
• Republican U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer of Michigan touts the region’s clean tech potential but withholds support for Democratic-backed climate change plans, citing a lack of details. (MiBiz)
• As Gov. Tim Walz marks the start of climate week in Minnesota, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar urges Walz to block construction on the Line 3 pipeline. (Common Dreams)
OIL & GAS:
• A North Dakota judge rules in favor of a recent state law that limits how much interest oil and gas companies have to pay for unpaid royalties and sets limits on how far back they have to pay. (Associated Press)
• An attorney representing Kansas natural gas customers says state regulators aren’t disclosing enough details about historic price spikes during this winter’s cold weather snap. (Kansas Reflector)
BIOFUELS: The University of Iowa now contracts with a private company to grow 1,100 acres of perennial grass miscanthus for power generation to help reduce the school’s coal dependence. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
GRID:
• Michigan residents express frustration to the state’s attorney general over multiple power outages this summer in the territories of Consumers Energy and DTE Energy. (Detroit News)
• A private university in Minnesota is developing a microgrid that researchers hope to scale up to power more campus buildings. (KSTP)
COAL: A clean energy advocate kayaks all 2,341 miles of the Missouri River to raise awareness about transitioning to clean energy from coal. (Flatland)
COMMENTARY:
• A clean energy advocate says carbon capture and hydrogen are a “boondoggle” and ineffective “bridge fuels” like natural gas that would continue to produce greenhouse gas emissions. (Environmental Health News)
• Minnesota clean energy advocates, state government officials and an Xcel Energy executive say developing a “transportation system primarily for single occupancy cars is inefficient, expensive and unfair.” (Star Tribune)