ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The pandemic has heightened the need for equity in the nation’s transition to electric transportation, argues a new paper from the Citizens Utility Board of Illinois. (Energy News Network)
OHIO: House Republicans say they will vote Thursday to strip House Speaker Larry Householder of his title after his alleged role in a $60 million bribery scheme to bail out uneconomic power plants. (Cleveland.com)
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SOLAR:
• In its second year, a Chicago-area solar group-buying program remains popular despite the pandemic’s chilling effect on the sector. (Energy News Network)
• A southwestern Michigan poultry farm completes a $650,000 solar project that owners say will offset its energy use throughout the year. (MiBiz)
• The developer of a major Indiana solar project says it will accommodate a request for pollinator habitat after consulting experts. (Indiana Public Media)
• An Illinois school district is among dozens in the state and thousands across the U.S. lowering energy costs with solar projects. (HuffPost)
COAL:
• Indiana utility NIPSCO is among investor-owned utilities considering financing options like securitization and accelerated depreciation as it moves to retire coal units. (Greentech Media)
• The Bureau of Land Management won’t offer pandemic-related royalty relief to Peabody Energy and Arch Resources, which sought the measures for mining operations on public land in Wyoming. (E&E News, subscription)
• The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration has not done enough to protect coal miners during the pandemic, according to a recent inspector general’s report. (Ohio Valley Resource)
WIND: WEC Energy Group is investing about $235 million to acquire an 85% ownership interest in a wind farm under construction in South Dakota. (Milwaukee Business Journal)
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OIL & GAS: Continental Resources executive chairman Harold Hamm expects the Bakken oil industry to recover, adding that the sector doesn’t need a boom but rather “sound economics.” (Bismarck Tribune)
COMMENTARY: The general manager of a northern Michigan electric cooperative makes the case for beneficial electrification, which replaces direct fossil fuel use such as propane and gasoline with electricity. (Traverse City Record-Eagle)