COAL: West Virginia officials want FirstEnergy to buy back an unprofitable coal plant that it went to great lengths to unload four years ago with help from Ohio’s power plant bailout law. (Ohio Capital Journal)
GRID:
• Ameren Missouri supports state legislation giving it first rights to build transmission lines after opposing a similar bill in Kansas that would have prevented it from competing for projects with local utilities in that state. (Kansas Reflector)
• The Indiana Senate unanimously passes a bill calling for a statewide energy plan that requires regulators to consider reliability, affordability, resiliency, stability and environmental sustainability in their decision making. (Indiana Public Broadcasting)
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UTILITIES: A ComEd official testifies during a bribery trial involving other former executives that the utility reaped $1.8 billion in benefits through provisions in a 2016 Illinois clean energy law. (Crain’s Chicago Business, subscription)
CLIMATE: The world faces a “ticking climate time bomb” unless countries mobilize to aggressively cut carbon emissions by 2040, according to a new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. (Inside Climate News)
RENEWABLES: Iowa generates more renewable electricity per square mile of land than any other state, while Illinois, Kansas and Indiana also crack the top 10. (Inside Climate News)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Michigan is among several states testing the potential of inductive charging on roads that would charge electric vehicles while they’re being driven. (States Newsroom)
CARBON CAPTURE:
• A biofuels advocacy group says Iowa corn farmers would see their income decline by $1.1 billion a year if the state’s ethanol plants are unable to access carbon capture pipelines. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
• Critics say the study is “fearmongering” and assumes carbon capture pipelines would be approved in Iowa’s neighboring states, which is far from certain. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
• A North Dakota county prepares to advance a new ordinance creating restrictions on carbon pipelines, which local officials anticipate would face a lawsuit from developers. (Bismarck Tribune)
SOLAR:
• The University of Michigan plans to install 25 MW of solar across three campuses by 2025. (Michigan Daily)
• A relatively small population and a lack of state incentives have likely hindered South Dakota’s solar industry from growing. (CNET)
• An Ann Arbor, Michigan, resident worked with city officials four years ago to launch what would become a solar group-buying program that generated discounts for residents looking to install projects. (Yale Climate Connections)
OIL & GAS:
• The North Dakota Senate passes a bill creating tax incentives for oil companies that use hydraulic fracturing to revive old oil wells. (KFYR)
• The head of the North Dakota Petroleum Council dismisses the latest IPCC report that calls for cutting fossil fuel production by two-thirds by 2035 as a scare tactic and not economically feasible. (KFYR)
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