SOLAR: An Illinois task force will explore whether the state should ban the dumping of solar components and batteries in landfills as the state also studies recycling options for renewable energy equipment. (Energy News Network)
ALSO:
• Ohio accuses a solar developer of submitting altered driver’s licenses for employees in order to qualify for tax breaks for hiring local workers. (WCPO)
• A South Dakota county commission fails to pass a temporary moratorium on solar farm permits, allowing a planned project to continue. (Mitchell Republic)
• Wisconsin regulators will soon consider approving a proposed 1,200 MW solar farm that would be among the largest in the country. (Stevens Point Journal)
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UTILITIES:
• North Dakota’s Basin Electric Power Cooperative could be one of the biggest beneficiaries of a $9.7 billion program to help rural electric cooperatives transition to clean energy. (North Dakota News Cooperative)
• Ohio regulators approve a new “electric security plan” for AES Ohio that will increase charges for Dayton-area customers for three years. (Dayton Daily News)
• Kansas retirees push back on Evergy’s proposed rate hike after executives told investors they hope to grow profits by 6% to 8% per year. (Kansas News Service)
POLITICS:
• Newly revealed emails show how Wisconsin’s largest utility company sought to persuade state lawmakers to preemptively block local governments from limiting natural gas hookups in their communities. (Tone)
• A trial begins for a former Illinois legislative staffer accused of lying under oath to protect his boss, longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who is accused of accepting bribes from utility ComEd. (Associated Press)
TRANSPORTATION:
• Ford CEO Jim Farley road trips in the company’s electric F-150 Lightning pickup to highlight “a new way to experience America.” (Detroit Free Press)
• Michigan officials are exploring whether to replace gasoline taxes with “usage charges” as electric vehicles are expected to reduce gas tax revenue. (Bridge)
• An Indiana lawmaker explains how the legislature set its new fee to register electric vehicles, which is roughly $214 per year. (Indiana Public Radio)
• A Michigan program awards grants to six companies for projects related to developing clean-fueled and electric marine vessels. (Second Wave)
PIPELINES: An Iowa judge says stakeholders in a CO2 pipeline case should be able to see the developer’s contracts with ethanol plants. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
RENEWABLES: The only three townships in an Ohio county that haven’t banned large wind and solar projects all seek to do so. (East Liverpool Review)
WIND: A Nebraska county approves a permit for a planned 41-turbine wind farm, so long as 42 conditions are met by the developer. (Greeley Independent)
STORAGE: Wisconsin regulators approve two battery projects totaling 175 MW that will be built alongside existing solar projects. (news release)
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COAL: Want to watch a coal plant come down? A TV station will livestream the demolition today of a former power plant in Holland, Michigan. (WOOD-TV)
COMMENTARY:
• A mortality demographer writes that Minnesota would be better off and should seize the opportunity to replace an urban freeway that contributes to local air pollution and climate change. (Star Tribune)
• Wisconsin’s former lieutenant governor writes that the federal Inflation Reduction Act will be critical to the state’s clean energy transition. (Cap Times)
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