COAL ASH: Finalized federal rules should close loopholes that have allowed power plant operators to skirt responsibility for coal ash pollution by blaming groundwater contamination on unregulated coal ash sources, advocates say. (Energy News Network)
ALSO: The coal ash rules were packaged with additional emission restrictions on coal plants as well as measures to speed up transmission permitting and environmental reviews for clean energy projects. (Inside Climate News)
WIND: A weather pattern system last year contributed to a 6% drop in wind energy production in Illinois from 2022, as researchers find that climate change may be causing wind speeds to slow. (Inside Climate News/Chicago Sun-Times)
CLEAN ENERGY: Minnesota lawmakers promise that proposed clean energy permitting reforms wouldn’t limit state oversight or public involvement in the process. (Star Tribune)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
- The White House designates Michigan as one of four “workforce hubs” in the country, dedicating funding to training programs for electric vehicle manufacturing. (UPI)
- Toyota plans to invest $1.4 billion to produce battery electric SUVs at an Indiana plant. (Reuters)
- Rivian’s Illinois electric vehicle manufacturing plant was evacuated as a fire broke out from conveyor equipment. (Pantagraph)
- An Indiana pilot project testing the potential for an electric vehicle charging highway would require large amounts of power and work like magnetic cell phone charging pads. (Indianapolis Star)
- ComEd installs two more public electric vehicle charging stations in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood as part of a pilot program to increase charging availability in neighborhoods with limited access. (Sun-Times)
OIL & GAS: North Dakota joins three other Republican-led states in a lawsuit challenging an Interior Department rule that aims to crack down on methane pollution from oil and gas drilling on public lands. (Reuters)
PIPELINES: Iowa regulators deny advocates’ calls to consolidate Summit Carbon Solutions’ 15 carbon pipeline permit requests, saying each permit raises unique issues and that consolidating permits would delay the project. (Des Moines Register)
SOLAR:
- Ohio regulators will hold a public hearing on Monday for a proposed 68 MW solar project that regulatory staffers have recommended denying. (Marion Star)
- Xcel Energy’s plan for a large solar project near a retiring coal plant highlights the utility’s clean energy shift, executives say. (WCCO)
AIR POLLUTION: Detroit and Indianapolis received failing grades in a new air quality ranking from the American Lung Association that cited industrial and transportation pollution as primary causes. (Planet Detroit; WTHR)
GRID: Grid operator MISO’s second seasonal capacity auction returned enough power capacity in all of its zones except portions of Missouri, where prices spiked to more than $700/MW-day in the fall and spring. (RTO Insider, subscription)
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