ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Around the U.S. and in Detroit, charging stations are primarily being deployed in affluent areas with small minority populations, posing challenges and safety concerns for people of color seeking to charge their vehicles. (BridgeDetroit)
ALSO:
• An Iowa city utility department seeks funding for a high-speed electric vehicle charging station. (The Courier)
• Tesla appears to have lost the affordable electric vehicle race to General Motors, which will soon offer models below $30,000. (Forbes)
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COAL:
• A Chicago city employee warned officials about public risks months before the botched implosion of a former coal plant smokestack on Chicago’s South Side in April 2020. (Chicago Sun-Times)
• Iowa will apply for up to $6 million in federal infrastructure funding to stem the pollution and other safety hazards caused by former coal mines. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
SOLAR:
• A rural Indiana landowner finds financial stability after leasing his property for a 7 MW solar project. (Energy News Network)
• Michigan legislators reintroduce bills involving the taxation of commercial solar projects similar to those vetoed last year by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, this time with changes to build more support among local governments. (MiBiz)
• An Iowa school district considers adding solar panels on five of its properties to generate long-term cost savings. (Tri States Public Radio)
GRID: A federal judge allows construction to proceed on a controversial transmission line between Iowa and Wisconsin while warning utilities supporting the project that it may not get permission to cross the Mississippi River as planned. (Wisconsin State Journal)
OHIO: The former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio chairperson accused of taking a $4.3 million bribe previously helped draft legislation that would have weakened the state’s ratepayer advocate. (Ohio Capital Journal)
OIL & GAS:
• State officials investigate a possible oil spill near tribal land in northern Wisconsin after Enbridge reported that a contractor found suspected contaminated soil along the Line 5 pipeline. (Associated Press)
• An unknown amount of petrochemicals spilled into a river bordering Canada and the U.S. after heavy rains this week caused overflows at a Canadian refinery. (MLive)
• North Dakota’s Supreme Court strikes down key portions of a state law that landowner groups say prevented property owners from receiving the full value of underground rock formations used for oil and gas drilling. (Associated Press)
PIPELINES: A carbon pipeline developer will soon begin notifying Iowa regulators where it may need to use eminent domain to secure property for the project. (Des Moines Register)
UTILITIES:
• Minnesota regulators may decide next week whether the state’s gas utilities are allowed to recoup the full $660 million from ratepayers incurred during weather-related natural gas price spikes in February 2021. (Star Tribune)
• The Omaha Public Power District set a record for electricity usage this week as temperatures exceeded triple digits. (Omaha World-Herald)
BIOENERGY: An $85 million biodigester facility in Michigan’s second-largest city is now operational; city officials hope for long-term savings by diverting solid waste away from landfills. (MLive)
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