SOLAR: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signs a bill to overhaul the state’s 10-year-old community solar program by catering to more residents and low-income residents, though advocates remain concerned about the program’s cost. (Star Tribune)
ALSO:
• First Solar claims in a new lawsuit that an Ohio solar company disguised solar panels installed at the governor’s mansion as its own, but they were manufactured by First Solar. (WTOL)
• Commercial operations begin for a 152 MW solar project in Indiana. (Inside Indiana Business)
• An Iowa school district plans to lease about 4.5 acres to Alliant Energy to build a solar project. (Clinton Herald)
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POLICY: With a newfound legislative majority this year, Minnesota Democrats have passed an aggressive climate strategy that involves a clean electricity standard, building decarbonization, mass transit and a green bank, to name a few. (E&E News, subscription)
NUCLEAR:
• More than half of the contaminated water that recently leaked into groundwater from a Minnesota nuclear plant has been recovered, officials say. (Associated Press)
• The owner of a southwestern Michigan nuclear plant expects to know by July whether it will receive both federal and state funding to reopen the plant. (Herald-Palladium)
• A bill to lift Illinois’ moratorium on new nuclear plant construction awaits state Senate approval before going to Gov. J.B. Pritzker. (Illinois Radio Network)
ADVOCACY: A Detroit activist’s community space on the city’s east side also serves as a crucial way to help historically under-resourced neighborhoods adapt to climate change. (Planet Detroit/Energy News Network)
GRID:
• Kansas regulators approve plans for a controversial transmission line that would connect a nuclear plant to a substation in Missouri. (Capital-Journal)
• Transmission build-out delays threaten Minnesota’s ability to reach a 100% carbon-free electricity target by 2040. (KSTP)
• The Oglala Lakota Nation’s attempt to build wind energy on tribal land in South Dakota has been delayed by grid interconnection delays. (NPR)
COAL: Duke Energy says it’s in the process of cleaning up a coal ash storage site at an Indiana coal plant and doesn’t expect to “significantly modify” those plans based on newly proposed U.S. EPA coal ash rules. (News and Tribune)
RENEWABLES: Nebraska community colleges struggle to recruit students for renewable energy training programs, mirroring a broader labor shortage for the industry. (Flatwater Free Press)
UTILITIES: A Missouri city sues Ameren Missouri over water contamination and damages linked to a utility substation. (FOX 2)
COMMENTARY: A Democratic congress member from Wisconsin says GOP attempts to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act would halt clean energy momentum in the state and across the country. (Capital Times)
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