SOLAR: A recent federal analysis reveals the daunting number of variables that need to be considered when attempting to pair solar energy and agricultural production. (Energy News Network)
ALSO:
• A growing number of agrivoltaic projects are in development across the Midwest as utilities and advocates promote working farmland alongside solar projects. (Star Tribune)
• The phase out of Indiana’s solar net metering law created a mad rush for customers before the cut off and an environment that led to financial scams, advocates say. (Indianapolis Star)
• A developer revises plans for a central Missouri solar project to alleviate landowner concerns over buffers and proximity to a school. (News Tribune)
• County officials in southern Indiana will vote in the coming weeks on zoning regulations for large-scale solar projects. (The Republic)
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EFFICIENCY:
• Experts say challenges remain for Minnesota to hit an “aggressive” goal of cutting buildings’ carbon emissions by 50% by 2030. (Star Tribune)
• More than 500,000 Wisconsin households will qualify for Inflation Reduction Act rebates that cover up to 80% of weatherization costs and in some cases the cost of a new heat pump. (Wisconsin State Journal)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Some experts question whether a rural Michigan county eyed for a massive battery manufacturing plant has the workforce to support it. (Crain’s Detroit Business)
• Competition is heating up as states offer hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives to lure major electric vehicle manufacturing projects. (Bloomberg, subscription)
• Capturing electric vehicle and other advanced energy and manufacturing jobs emerges as a key issue in an Ohio U.S. Senate race. (Washington Post)
GRID: Consumer advocates and large energy users push back against AEP Ohio’s request to loosen grid reliability standards. (WOSU)
RENEWABLES:
• Iowa regulators in the coming weeks will hold hearings on MidAmerican Energy’s plan to add 2,000 MW of wind and 50 MW of solar over the next three years. (Courthouse News Service)
• Ameren Missouri expects to receive $1.3 billion in clean energy production tax credits until 2032, mostly from the Inflation Reduction Act. (Utility Dive)
PIPELINES:
• A recent court ruling will delay any future decisions about carbon pipeline surveyors’ access to private property until next year. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
• A majority of state legislative candidates in eastern Iowa oppose the use of eminent domain to build carbon pipelines. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
• Chicago-area climate activists protest the ongoing use and expansion of Enbridge’s Line 5 and 3 pipelines. (Chicago Tribune)
NUCLEAR:
• Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signs a bill that will fund a feasibility study on the potential for nuclear energy in the state. (WJRT)
• Local organizations will distribute $100,000 in technical and financial assistance to businesses that would be affected by the closure of a southwestern Michigan nuclear plant. (Herald Palladium)
COMMENTARY:
• The company seeking to develop a northern Minnesota nickel and cobalt mine wants to do so in a way that “respects tribal history, culture, tribal sovereign governments” while delivering economic benefits to tribes, an executive writes. (Star Tribune)
• An environmental advocate writes that acid mine drainage from the proposed mine would be “an inevitability in water-rich Minnesota. (News Tribune)
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