CLIMATE: After playing a key role in crafting the Inflation Reduction Act as U.S. Sen. Tina Smith’s top energy advisor, a scientist and political staffer returns home to Minnesota to help the state implement some of the country’s most ambitious clean energy laws. (Inside Climate News)
PIPELINES: An Iowa administrative law judge orders a carbon pipeline developer to give interested parties documents related to potentially hazardous plumes in the event of a pipeline breach and release. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
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STORAGE:
• Michigan utility officials say a pumped hydroelectric storage facility along Lake Michigan will act as “one huge storage solution” to manage peak production as more renewables come online. (MLive)
• A Michigan startup reaches a new milestone in developing lithium iron phosphate batteries for electric vehicles, noting they are safer and more durable than more common nickel cobalt manganese batteries. (Detroit News)
WIND:
• A pilot offshore wind project in Lake Erie could be a test case for future Great Lakes wind projects, supporters say. (Guardian)
• MidAmerican Energy faces ongoing pushback to wind development in an Iowa county even after local officials expanded turbine setback distances. (KTIV)
OIL & GAS: “The period of low oil prices has left us,” a North Dakota official says after the state’s oil production rose 3% in June, the industry’s best month in more than two years. (Bismarck Tribune, Star Tribune)
EMISSIONS: Minnesota environmental justice advocates call for the closure of a Minneapolis waste-to-energy facility, saying its emissions disproportionately harm low-income residents and people of color. (MPR)
SOLAR:
• A ComEd online solar calculator helps Illinois residents determine the upfront costs and potential savings of installing home solar panels. (CBS 2)
• A University of Wisconsin campus installs its largest solar project to date as part of a broader solar and energy efficiency plan. (La Crosse Tribune)
• An Indiana city plans to install a 1 MW solar project at a wastewater treatment plant that could cut electricity costs by $140,000 in the first year. (Columbus Republic)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• State Farm Insurance donates $1 million for an electric vehicle training program at a central Illinois community college near a Rivian manufacturing plant. (WEEK)
• A southwestern Missouri city is awarded a utility grant to install three public Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations. (Joplin Globe)
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GRID: Widespread blackouts spanning Michigan to the East Coast 20 years ago led to the adoption of many more safety and oversight measures to prevent such an incident again. (Michigan Radio)
COMMENTARY:
• The ongoing legal dispute over Line 5 in the Great Lakes could set a precedent for settling other disputes involving state regulatory authority and Native American rights, a Michigan professor writes. (The Conversation)
• The head of a Wisconsin grocers trade group says community solar can help grocery stores with razor thin margins lower their operating costs. (Capital Times)
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