UTILITIES: Xcel Energy wants time-of-use rates to be the default billing system for its Minnesota residential customers, proposing to double prices for power during peak late afternoon and early evening hours. (Energy News Network)
WIND:
- As Kansas City utility Evergy’s coal supplies froze during last week’s winter storms, wind turbines provided thousands of megawatts of power to keep the utility’s grid stable. (Capital-Journal)
- A 7,000-acre, fourth-generation ranch in Kansas uses supplemental income from hosting wind turbines to generate steady income. (Yale Climate Connections)
GRID:
- Michigan has had the second-highest number of major power outages among states since 2000, with 132 events when at least 50,000 customers lost power, according to a Climate Central report. (Planet Detroit)
- Xcel Energy begins installing smart meters in South Dakota, which it says will help customers better monitor power use. (Dakota News Now)
PIPELINES:
- South Dakota lawmakers defeat a bill that would have required pipeline developers and utilities to obtain written consent from property owners before surveying their land. (Argus Leader)
- St. Louis gas utility Spire buys two interconnecting gas pipeline systems totaling more than 200 miles for $175 million. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
RENEWABLES: A Michigan panel allows organizers to start collecting signatures for a ballot initiative seeking to overturn a state law giving state regulators authority over renewable energy permitting. (Bridge)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
- Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says “disadvantaged, historically excluded or overburdened areas” were a priority with $623 million in recent federal funding for charging infrastructure. (Living On Earth)
- Illinois will use $7 million in federal funding to repair, replace or upgrade more than 100 Level 2 and fast-charging stations across the state. (FOX 2)
NUCLEAR: The South Dakota House passes a bill to clarify that the governor can enter into federal agreements on nuclear power development in preparation for a new potential plant. (SDBA)
CLEAN ENERGY: A Michigan lawmaker says the timing of the federal Inflation Reduction Act was a significant reason why the state passed sweeping clean energy reforms last year. (Volts)
STORAGE:
- A developer proposes a 200 MW battery storage facility in southwestern Minnesota, which would be the largest storage facility in the state. (West Central Tribune)
- A Michigan startup developing organic materials for grid-scale energy storage aims to bring its product to market within the next 18 months. (Crain’s Grand Rapids Business)
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