UTILITIES: American Electric Power disconnected power for nonpayment more frequently than any other Ohio utility last year, cutting off customers more than twice as often as the next highest utility, FirstEnergy. (Ohio Capital Journal)
COAL: Environmental groups criticize Vistra for doing the “bare minimum” by proposing to cap dry coal ash with natural materials after closing a central Illinois coal plant by the end of this year. (Heart of Illinois)
EFFICIENCY:
• A proposed ordinance in Chicago would require all new homes and apartments to be wired for easy installation of electric appliances. (Chicago Tribune)
• Duke Energy launches a program to install free energy-efficient products for residential customers in a western Indiana city. (WTHI)
EMISSIONS:
• Wisconsin’s five largest utilities are on track to cut carbon emissions 45% by 2028, but most will fall short of 2030 goals, according to state regulators. (Wisconsin Public Radio)
• Minneapolis parks officials consider selling carbon offsets to polluters to help fund tree planting. (Star Tribune)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Electric vehicle startup Rivian ramped up deliveries in the second quarter and expects to hit annual production targets at its Illinois facility. (Reuters)
BIOENERGY: The operators of an Iowa manure biogas facility ignored a container leak that caused nearly 400,000 gallons of waste to spill into nearby waterways, according to a state agency. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
WIND:
• Wind tax revenue declined in southern Minnesota last year as more turbines were turned off to prevent transmission congestion. (Star Tribune)
• A northeastern Kansas county adopts a moratorium on wind energy development as officials craft local zoning regulations. (News-Press Now)
PIPELINES:
• Farmers, Indigenous groups and environmentalists are aligning across Iowa in opposition to proposed carbon capture pipelines. (The Guardian)
• A White Earth Nation tribal judge dismisses charges against three Indigenous people involved with Line 3 pipeline protests, saying their actions were lawful exercises of their rights. (KVRR)
• North Dakota regulators formally support a planned natural gas pipeline expansion that would deliver more supplies to the southeastern part of the state. (Prairie Public Broadcasting)
• County officials in South Dakota consider a moratorium that could halt a developer’s pre-construction work on a planned carbon capture pipeline. (Aberdeen News)
POLITICS: Critics say DTE Energy is again using a nonprofit front group to exercise an outsized influence in Michigan politics. (Michigan Radio)
COMMENTARY: The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling limiting the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions could have been worse by further undoing administrative regulations, says a longtime Minnesota legislative staffer. (Minnesota Reformer)
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