ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE:
• A Chicago-area partnership is helping to fill the need for more electricians to meet clean energy job demands while also expanding training and opportunities to women and environmental justice communities. (Energy News Network)
• A proposed Minnesota bill would create stronger permitting requirements for facilities seeking to emit pollutants in environmental justice areas and require regulators to evaluate existing pollution in communities. (Sahan Journal)
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COAL: Indiana lawmakers introduce several bills that would aid the state’s coal industry based on claims of grid reliability, affordability and national security. (Indiana Environmental Reporter)
OHIO: A jury was sent home after about six hours of deliberation Wednesday and was set to reconvene this morning in the massive public corruption trial involving Ohio’s power plant bailout law. (Ohio Capital Journal)
CARBON CAPTURE:
• A carbon pipeline developer is struggling to secure an underground storage site for emissions it plans to capture from Midwest ethanol plants as residents refuse to give up land rights over fears that the reservoirs could leak. (Reuters)
• Iowa county officials raise concerns about the cost of providing detailed drainage information along a proposed carbon pipeline route. (Globe Gazette)
PIPELINES: Federal officials order TC Energy to lower the pressure of crude oil along another 1,200 miles of the Keystone pipeline following a major spill in Kansas late last year. (KCUR)
UTILITIES:
• Ohio regulators will allow a major electric aggregator to continue operating in the state, though they raised concerns about the entity’s decision last year to drop more than 500,000 customers when prices increased. (Cleveland.com)
• Indiana utility NIPSCO says customers will experience electric bill relief as natural gas prices drop again and the company extends credits for excess wind and solar generation. (Times of Northwest Indiana)
SOLAR: Michigan lawmakers introduce bipartisan legislation to enable a pathway for residents and businesses to subscribe to offsite community solar projects. (PV Magazine)
GRID:
• The University of Missouri begins a roughly $40 million plan to connect to the surrounding city’s electric grid to ensure reliability as the school’s power demand grows. (Columbia Missourian)
• Widespread outages in Michigan following recent ice storms have shifted Democrats’ energy-related priorities from clean energy and climate change to grid reliability. (MLive)
• Illinois regulators approve construction plans for the multi-state Grain Belt Express clean energy transmission project. (WTAD)
• Michigan utility Consumers Energy is launching a pilot program to bury power lines underground in rural areas where tree trimming would be too expensive. (WOOD-TV8)
CLIMATE: The Omaha City Council approves a consulting contract to create a citywide climate action plan. (The Reader)
WIND:
• A pair of recent Nebraska Supreme Court rulings dismiss the remaining legal challenges brought by opponents of a 19-turbine wind project. (North Platte Telegraph)
• A Nebraska county will hold a public hearing today on proposed restrictions to future wind energy development. (News Channel Nebraska)
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COMMENTARY:
• Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker writes in an op-ed that it’s “unfair and costly to consumers to allow gas companies to get away with not providing basic transparency and safety information to consumers and regulators.” (Chicago Sun-Times)
• Nonprofit leaders say Minnesota’s new clean energy law “means even more excellent jobs and thriving clean energy businesses, reduced energy costs for our residents and significantly less pollution to combat climate change.” (Star Tribune)
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