SOLAR: Alliant Energy begins offering shares in its first community solar project, a 1 MW installation in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. (Wisconsin State Journal)
ALSO:
• Illinois regulators provide a new calculation that restores full retail net metering for Ameren customers within three weeks. (Utility Dive)
• Michigan solar advocates are cautiously optimistic that state regulators will require Consumers Energy to perform a value of solar study under an order expected this month. (PV Magazine)
• Indiana utility NIPSCO plans three large-scale solar projects totaling 900 MW as part of its long-term clean energy plan. (Times of Northwest Indiana)
• A Madison, Wisconsin, native studying chemical engineering at Stanford University is selected for a prestigious scholarship in the United Kingdom where he will study solar and clean energy. (Wisconsin State Journal)
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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The next round of EV charging station grants under Minnesota’s Volkwagen settlement will prioritize projects that are paired with solar panels or other local clean energy generation. (Energy News Network)
PIPELINES:
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers holds a public hearing on Enbridge’s request to build a tunnel for Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac. (Michigan Radio)
• Opponents say an influx of hundreds of workers on the Line 3 pipeline across northern Minnesota could accelerate the spread of COVID-19 and strain health care facilities. (MinnPost)
• Parallel battles are taking place in Michigan and Minnesota as advocates seek to stop Enbridge plans to bolster its pipeline system with Line 3 and Line 5. (Michigan Advance)
OHIO: Several hearings will be held this week on a bill to freeze customer charges to subsidize power plants in Ohio, a response to the HB6 scandal. (Statehouse News Bureau)
UTILITIES: Ameren has named the company’s first chief renewable development officer, who will lead the company’s net zero emissions plan. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
WIND: McDonald’s will purchase 126 MW of power from an Illinois wind project under an agreement with developer Apex Clean Energy. (ReNews)
COAL: A federal court rejects the U.S. EPA’s argument that an agreement between environmental groups and DTE Energy that includes closing three coal plants encroaches on the agency’s authority under the Clean Air Act. (Utility Dive)
COMMENTARY: A Sierra Club representative says monopoly utilities in Kansas and Missouri should resume programs that prohibit utility disconnections during the pandemic. (Kansas City Star)