UTILITIES: “If we want clean energy then we need to have clean government.”: An Illinois coalition seeks utility ethics and regulatory reforms and restitution for ComEd ratepayers as part of major energy legislation being considered by state lawmakers. (Energy News Network)
COAL:
• Great River Energy nears a deal to sell North Dakota’s largest coal plant to a new owner that would keep the plant from shutting down next year. (Bismarck Tribune)
• AES Indiana would pay a $1.5 million fine to settle long-standing air pollution allegations involving an Indiana coal plant under a deal approved by a federal judge. (E&E News, subscription)
TRANSMISSION: An underground transmission line proposed from Iowa to Illinois is delayed by a glut of renewable energy projects in grid operator PJM’s queue — a problem that, ironically, the project could help solve.. (Energy News Network)
DIVESTMENT: The University of Michigan will divest its roughly $14 billion endowment from fossil fuels after years of pressure from some students and faculty. (Detroit Free Press)
PIPELINES:
• Recent protests have uncovered a complicated history between the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the Line 3 pipeline. (MPR News)
• Seven Line 3 protesters are arrested in northern Minnesota after chaining themselves to heavy construction machinery and access gates. (KVRR)
• Ohio House lawmakers pass a nonbinding resolution urging Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to keep the Line 5 pipeline operating. (Toledo Blade)
TRANSPORTATION: Minnesota lawmakers consider measures to reduce transportation-sector emissions, including targets to reduce vehicle miles traveled and building more electric vehicle charging stations. (Star Tribune)
POLITICS: Ohio lawmakers take up a bill calling for tougher transparency requirements for corporate political donors in the wake of the power plant bailout law controversy. (Cleveland.com)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Federal securities regulators ask Ohio electric vehicle company Lordstown Motors for more information about a prior merger and preorders of its vehicles. (Reuters)
SOLAR: Construction is set to begin on a 100 MW solar project in southern Ohio. (Times-Gazette)
OIL & GAS: Despite states like Kansas moving to ban local restrictions on natural gas usage, higher gas prices and more renewables are still likely to weaken demand for the fuel. (S&P Global)
BIOGAS: The Missouri Senate passes a bill allowing utilities to create voluntary renewable natural gas purchasing programs for customers. (Missouri Times)
COMMENTARY:
• Electric buses at two Illinois school districts will “allow students to breathe cleaner air as they wait to board idling buses” while also serving as a teaching tool, advocates say. (Natural Resources Defense Council)
• A Minnesota advocate says state lawmakers should tighten their oversight of natural gas utilities following recent price spikes after widespread supply shortages. (Minnesota Reformer)