PIPELINES: The owner of the Dakota Access pipeline says it has no immediate plans to stop pumping oil through the line as it seeks an appeal of a judge’s order that it be shut down by August 5. (Associated Press)
ALSO: Legal experts say developers’ strategy to build pipelines first and then sort out legal challenges no longer works in light of the Dakota Access ruling. (E&E News, subscription)
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EMISSIONS: U.S. power sector carbon emissions fell 8% from 2018-2019 as a result of coal plant closures, according to a new report. (Utility Dive)
COAL:
• More than 50 Ohio Valley coal companies received federal Paycheck Protection Program loans totaling nearly $120 million. (WKYU)
• The U.S. EPA opens a 45-day public comment period on a proposed cleanup plan for a northwestern Indiana coal plant. (Indiana Environmental Reporter)
• Peabody Energy and Arch Resources push back against the Federal Trade Commission’s claims that a proposed merger between the companies would cause “anticompetitive harm.” (Wyoming Public Media)
SOLAR:
• Developers plan a 50 MW solar project at a former landfill in central Ohio. (Columbus Dispatch)
• Nebraska developer Tenaska partners with a Swiss firm on a planned 4,800 MW solar buildout in the Midwest and Southeast. (Greentech Media)
• A battery storage project in northeastern Iowa aims to leverage customer-owned solar power to maintain local grid reliability. (Solar Power World)
• A southern Illinois school district expects to offset about half of its electricity usage with a nearly 1.6 MW solar project. (Belleville News-Democrat)
• An Iowa health care clinic expects to save more than $500,000 over the next 25 years by installing a solar project. (CBS2)
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WIND:
• A 165 MW wind project under development in northern Iowa raises concerns from some landowners including noise and other annoyances. (Globe Gazette)
• A Toronto-based company acquires two wind projects under development in central Illinois totaling 350 MW. (North American Windpower)
COMMENTARY:
• While it appears to be more difficult to build large oil pipelines in the U.S., the same is true for major transmission projects that can move renewable energy to population centers, a columnist writes. (Forbes)
• As states like Michigan consider new investments in renewable natural gas, a sustainability researcher says the climate benefits might not be as large as advocates claim. (The Conversation)