WIND: The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is developing a 235 MW wind project, the first of its kind on tribal land in North Dakota. (Bismarck Tribune)
BIOGAS: Iowa researchers are studying ways to make renewable natural gas from agricultural waste more profitable for farmers. (Energy News Network)
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PIPELINES: Michigan regulators take three hours of public comment from parties opposed to and supportive of plans to tunnel the Line 5 pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac. (Detroit Free Press)
OHIO: The Ohio Senate plans to return to session next month to consider repealing a power plant bailout law at the center of an alleged bribery scheme. (Columbus Dispatch)
NUCLEAR:
• Operators decide to permanently close Iowa’s only nuclear plant ahead of schedule after significant damage from a severe storm this month. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
• Local governments in southeast Michigan continue to challenge DTE Energy’s attempt to lower the property taxes it pays on a nuclear power plant. (Monroe News)
SOLAR: Local officials approve plans for a 4,500 acre solar project in northwestern Indiana. (WNDU)
OIL & GAS:
• Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel joins a coalition of states challenging a Trump administration rule allowing trains to transport liquefied natural gas. (Michigan Advance)
• A North Dakota company develops magnetized wood chips to help clean up underwater oil spills. (Bismarck Tribune)
BIOFUELS: Dozens of small oil refineries have submitted exemptions to biofuel blending requirements after the Trump administration announced it wouldn’t act on the federal law until after the November election. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
COAL: The University of Illinois at Chicago receives $5 million to advance black lung disease research and support coal miners in Indiana and Illinois. (WBBM)
POWER PLANTS: An Indiana port is seeing an increase in cargo with parts to build power plants and wind turbines. (Inside Indiana Business)
UTILITIES: Ohio community resource agencies are concerned as the need for support is likely to spike as utility bills come due and the pandemic lingers. (WBUR)
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STORAGE: Michigan officials issue a request for proposals to help develop a statewide energy storage roadmap. (news release)
COMMENTARY:
• A northern Michigan climate activist says policymakers should focus on phasing out fossil fuels instead of locking them in for decades with a plan to tunnel the Line 5 pipeline in the Great Lakes. (Northern Express)
• A “pro-nuclear environmentalist” said while a recent bribery scandal involving ComEd is “profoundly dispiriting,” losing the state’s nuclear plants would be a “permanent blow to our communities and our citizens.” (Chicago Tribune)