GRID: Xcel Energy partners with community groups to develop “resilience hubs” in three Minneapolis neighborhoods where solar and storage-powered microgrids will provide emergency back-up power and added grid balancing options. (Energy News Network)
ALSO:
• A team of U.S. researchers studies how power outages affect public health, part of a growing new field known as climate epidemiology. (Inside Climate News)
• Alliant Energy offers $25 annual payments to Wisconsin customers who let the utility control their thermostats during periods of peak demand. (WPR)
SOLAR:
• Rising costs cancel a solar developer’s contract to build a 64 MW project for Columbia, Missouri — a setback for the city’s efforts to reach 100% renewable energy by 2035. (Missourian)
• The former mayor of Lima, Ohio, now works for a Michigan startup company trying to develop space-based solar power generation. (Lima News)
CARBON CAPTURE: A Lincoln, Nebraska, company says it has received more than $300 million from investors as it builds a second carbon black plant aimed at decarbonizing fertilizer and other products. (Journal Star)
PIPELINES: After a judge acquits an activist charged with “aiding and abetting trespassing” during last year’s Line 3 pipeline protests, opponents renew calls for Minnesota officials to drop charges against hundreds of others. (MPR News)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• General Motors CEO Mary Barra says she believes the company can overtake Tesla this decade as the top U.S. seller of electric vehicles. (Associated Press)
• Surging demand for materials to make electric vehicle batteries has put a spotlight on a Michigan nickel mine, the only one in the U.S. (MLive)
COAL: At a 40th anniversary celebration for Nebraska’s largest coal plant, a utility executive says “the site will always be part of our generation” but that the type of generation may change with the utility’s energy transition. (KNOP-TV)
NUCLEAR:
• An executive for a small modular nuclear reactor company says the technology could be a good fit to replace coal plants in the Ohio Valley. (Herald-Dispatch)
• Southwest Michigan officials hope to lure new employers to the region to offset job losses from the Palisades nuclear power plant retirement. (MiBiz)
CLEAN ENERGY: A northwestern Minnesota city participates in a project to design a “regenerative” community that produces more energy than it uses through solar panels, efficiency and other strategies. (Grand Forks Herald)
COMMENTARY: National security starts with keeping the lights on, writes a retired Navy admiral who says we must prepare our electric grid for climate change and a rapid transition to clean energy. (Ohio Capital Journal)
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