TRANSMISSION: Wisconsin ratepayer advocates are asking state regulators to halt construction on a controversial $492 million transmission project while its fate is decided in the courts. (Wisconsin State Journal)
CLEAN ENERGY: St. Louis officials consider adding a second administrator for a residential clean energy loan program after an investigation showed the program issued predatory loans to some customers. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
SOLAR:
• An Indiana appeals court overrules a state regulatory decision that reduced the amount CenterPoint Energy credited rooftop solar customers for the excess power they send to the grid. (Courier & Press)
• Southern Indiana county officials prepare to develop commercial solar zoning regulations as development interest increases. (Times Herald)
OIL & GAS:
• Missouri is eligible for up to $32 million under a new federal program to help states cap defunct oil and gas wells. (Missouri Independent)
• Proposed Illinois legislation would eliminate an infrastructure surcharge on natural gas utility bills, which supporters hope would slow rate increases. (Belleville News-Democrat)
• Expanded gas pipeline infrastructure, along with potentially elevated oil prices, will likely lead to increased gas production in North Dakota in the coming months. (S&P Global)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Ford officials expect to generate $45 billion by 2025 by selling 150,000 electric commercial transit vehicles annually and creating “charging depots” to help customers manage their fleets. (Detroit Free Press)
• General Motors officials say a closer proximity between the company’s battery manufacturing plants and electric vehicle assembly plants will be crucial as production ramps up. (Automotive News, subscription)
• The introduction of several electrified buses in Iowa City is the “first paradigm shift in vehicle technology” for the city’s transit agency. (Little Village)
UTILITIES: New technology and the growth of customer-owned generation will reshape the role of utilities, utility and power system experts predict. (Utility Dive)
COMMENTARY:
• Clean energy advocates say Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s draft climate plan calling for carbon neutrality by 2050 “simply does not go far enough.” (Natural Resources Defense Council)
• As the Ohio power plant bailout scandal continues, Gov. Mike DeWine is “racing away from his political entanglement in the blockbuster bribery and money-laundering case that goes to trial this year,” a columnist writes. (Ohio Capital Journal)