GRID: Minnesota utilities say they are prioritizing landowner and community engagement along the route of a planned 180-mile, $970 million transmission line that will eventually connect central and northern Minnesota. (Energy News Network)
ALSO:
• Federal regulators finalize long-awaited rules to reform how generation projects can more easily connect to the power grid, a problem that has stalled mostly wind, solar and battery storage projects. (States Newsroom)
• Power-hungry data centers are contributing to a major spike in electricity demand near Omaha, Nebraska. (World-Herald)
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PIPELINES:
• A fourth aquifer breach has been confirmed by state officials along the route of Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline in northern Minnesota. (Star Tribune)
• North Dakota governor and GOP presidential candidate Doug Burgum defends the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines, saying the proposed projects would deliver major economic benefits for Midwest farmers. (Des Moines Register)
OHIO: A former FBI agent describes the “jaw-dropping” investigation and case against former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and his role in Ohio’s largest corruption scheme. (Columbus Dispatch)
SOLAR: Developers are considering a 1,500-acre site for a major solar project in southeastern Missouri. (Southeast Missourian)
RENEWABLES: A Columbus, Ohio-based attorney has led legal efforts to block more than a dozen wind and solar projects across the state, though it remains unclear how these efforts are funded. (Cleveland.com)
CLIMATE:
• A prominent figure in conservatives’ crusade to block investment managers from considering environmental, social, and governance risks has been appointed to a board overseeing Kansas’ public pension system. (Kansas City Star)
• The U.S. healthcare system has roughly $10 billion invested in fossil fuels through its retirement plans and pension systems, which clean energy advocates say makes the sector glaringly absent from the divestiture movement. (Daily Climate)
UTILITIES: Power outages in Milwaukee over the weekend reinforce some residents’ calls for a publicly owned utility that can be more accountable to customers. (CBS 58)
COMMENTARY: The potential of a key Atlantic Ocean current being disrupted could cause major shifts in Chicago’s precipitation patterns and further underscores the need for climate action, an editorial board writes. (Chicago Sun-Times)
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