SOLAR: A utility serving customers in southwestern Michigan reaches its cap for a distributed generation program, limiting future residential solar customers to “unfair” compensation rates that critics say will halt projects. (Energy News Network)
ALSO: Wisconsin is experiencing a boom in commercial solar development with more than a dozen projects under construction with the capacity to power nearly one-third of the state’s homes. (Journal Sentinel)
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CLEAN ENERGY: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer calls on lawmakers to pass bills for a 100% carbon-free energy mandate and to move renewable energy permitting to the state level. (Bridge Michigan)
RENEWABLES: Three Ohio townships are in the process of banning commercial solar and wind projects, and would join every other township in the county to block development as allowed under a recent state law. (Salem News)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Iowa City is poised to begin charging 16 cents per kilowatt-hour to use public electric vehicle charging stations to recoup installation costs. (KCRG)
• A Rivian manufacturing plant in central Illinois helped to displace previously lost jobs in the region but also stressed the local housing supply. (Jalopnik)
WIND: Alliant Energy reports that more than half of its electricity delivered to Iowa customers last year came from wind energy. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
UTILITIES:
• Kansas regulatory staffers say Evergy’s proposed rate increase is unjustified as the company seeks to offset the costs of plant investments and retirements as well as rising interest rates. (Wichita Eagle)
• Michigan regulators seek public input on a plan that would create financial penalties for utilities whose customers experience repeated outages. (Michigan Radio)
GRID: The U.S. Department of Energy is launching a $300 million program to help states, tribes and local governments improve transmission siting and permitting processes while supporting communities affected by projects. (Utility Dive)
BATTERIES: A South Dakota lawmaker plans to reintroduce a bill to tax lithium, a key element used in battery storage and crucial for the clean energy transition. (South Dakota Public Broadcasting)
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EFFICIENCY: The federal Inflation Reduction Act includes $8.8 billion for home energy efficiency rebates, primarily for low- and moderate-income households. (Grist)
COMMENTARY:
• A Minnesota state representative says “virtually all” public policies — including housing, agriculture and transportation — should be viewed through a climate change and environmental justice lens to minimize public risk. (Star Tribune)
• Landowner opposition to the use of eminent domain to build a carbon pipeline through Iowa is based on similar concerns with the Dakota Access pipeline, a columnist writes. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
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