SOLAR: A new Minnesota law allows community solar developers to build bigger projects farther away from subscribers in an effort to reinvigorate the state’s program and ensure lower-income customers can participate. (Energy News Network)
ALSO: Advocates say states like Wisconsin need clear policies allowing third-party financing for solar projects to make clean energy more accessible to all. (Yale Climate Connections)
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BIOFUELS:
• An ethanol spill from a South Bend, Indiana, plant appears to have reached the Kankakee River while state officials monitor the cleanup. (South Bend Tribune)
• Residents are still seeking answers from local officials following a recent explosion at an ethanol plant. (Dakota News Now)
UTILITIES:
• The longtime utility and investment executive who recently took over at FirstEnergy believes the company has “done a good job” of moving past the “corporate trauma” surrounding the HB 6 scandal. (Akron Beacon Journal)
• The president and CEO of a North Dakota electric cooperative abruptly resigns with no reasons given after less than two years on the job. (Bismarck Tribune)
• ComEd’s former CEO argues in an appeal to her bribery conviction that the government failed to provide enough evidence of bribes involving former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. (Bloomberg Law, subscription)
• Michigan regulators are investigating Consumers Energy over persistent customer complaints involving the company’s natural gas meters and potential overbilling. (MLive)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The United Auto Workers union sees this year’s contract negotiations with automakers as a crucial opportunity to ensure representation in future electric vehicle jobs. (WDIV)
CARBON CAPTURE:
• Iowa’s top energy regulator says he does not anticipate any delays in considering a company’s request for a carbon pipeline permit as opponents have sought. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
• Most major U.S. utilities aren’t installing carbon capture technology on their power plants despite growing support and tax credits from the Biden administration. (E&E News)
CLIMATE: Leaders at Oberlin College in Ohio hope to provide an example for small cities planning to significantly cut their emissions while retiring still-useful fossil fuel assets. (Inside Climate News)
EFFICIENCY: A Missouri agency reopens applications from schools, local governments and hospitals for low-interest loans to make energy efficiency improvements at their facilities. (KRCG)
COMMENTARY: Clean energy advocates say recent capacity auctions show that the “antiquated, status quo grid” isn’t equipped to handle the transition to electrification and rising demand. (Natural Resources Defense Council)
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