Discover the Latest News and Initiatives for a Sustainable Future

TRANSITION: An energy company’s plan to build an 800 MW solar farm on a 27,000-acre mountaintop removal mine site in Kentucky could become a model to repurpose environmentally disturbed sites in Appalachia for renewables. (Daily Yonder)

‍

ALSO: Federal investigators will look into Appalachia’s “zombie mines,” where coal production has ceased but which companies say are “active” to avoid reclamation costs. (Inside Climate News)

‍

GRID:

• Soaring demand, forecasts of a polar vortex and memories of grid struggles during winter storms in recent years create uncertainty about the reliability of Texas’ power grid headed into winter storm season. (Houston Chronicle)
• Texas grid officials say there’s plenty of power to meet energy demand during next week’s anticipated arctic cold front, though experts warn of the potential for record-breaking demand. (Austin American-Statesman)
• Tennessee Valley Authority officials tout the utility’s investments in weatherization and grid reliability since a 2022 cold snap forced it to implement rolling blackouts across the Southeast. (WATE)

‍

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Electric vehicle maker Canoo ramps up activity at two Oklahoma plants as it adds jobs and makes the first vehicles in a 1,000-vehicle order by the state. (Daily Journal)
• Tesla promises raises for factory workers this year as the United Auto Workers try to organize unions at its assembly and battery factories in Texas, California and Nevada. (Associated Press)

‍

SOLAR:

• Texas’ plans to build 38 GW of new solar over the next five years are threatened by concerns about Chinese labor practices and supply chain traceability. (Dallas Morning News)
• A renewables company begins operating a solar farm in Texas. (PV Tech)

‍

OIL & GAS:

• Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern Energy will merge to form one of the largest natural gas companies in the U.S., with plans to build a liquified natural gas facility in Houston. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
• Texas officials continue to investigate the cause of an explosion at a high-rise hotel in Fort Worth, but one person already has sued the local natural gas provider, and concerns about another potential gas leak led to an emergency call in Dallas. (Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

‍

CLIMATE:

• Record numbers of Texans have died from heat-related causes for three years running, including at least 334 people in 2023. (Texas Tribune)
• About 100,000 residents in the Miami metro area will see a 35% discount in their flood insurance premiums because of a shift in how federal officials assess flood risk in the area. (Miami Herald)
• Louisiana escaped severe hurricanes for the second year in a row, and avoided the five-day forecast cone throughout the entire season. (NOLA.com)

‍

UTILITIES: Arkansas power and natural gas utilities respond to state regulators’ questions about their plans to use federal funding for energy efficiency and grid infrastructure projects. (Arkansas Business)

‍

POLITICS: Activists wielding leaf blowers gather outside the Virginia Capitol to lobby for legislation that would let local governments regulate gas-powered blowers. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

‍

COMMENTARY: An environmental justice advocate calls for pop star and real estate developer Pharrell Williams to consider the risk of climate gentrification to nearby Black neighborhoods as he moves forward with projects in coastal Virginia. (Daily Press)

‍

EQUITY: Low-income households could benefit most from clean energy upgrades such as heat pumps and solar panels but often don’t have access to financing or government incentives. (New York Times)

‍

SOLAR: The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts 79 GW of new solar capacity will come online through the end of 2025, potentially making it the top source of power growth over the next two years. (Utility Dive)

‍

STORAGE: Federal analysts also predict energy storage on the grid will nearly double this year, from 17.3 GW now to 31.1 GW by December. (Canary Media)

‍

OIL & GAS:

• While environmental groups see a new federal rule as a major opportunity to cut methane emissions, officials in oil- and gas-producing states see burdensome regulations that won’t move the emissions needle. (States Newsroom)
• Advocates and investors question the sustainability claims of a growing Colorado oil and gas company that bills itself as the state’s “first carbon-neutral energy producer.” (Capital & Main)

‍

HYDROGEN: The Biden administration’s proposed hydrogen incentive rules place strict emissions limits on green hydrogen producers but lack standards for natural gas-sourced blue hydrogen. (Canary Media)

‍

COAL:

• An energy company’s plan to build a solar farm on a mountaintop removal mine site in Kentucky could become a model to repurpose environmentally disturbed sites in Appalachia for renewables. (Daily Yonder)
• Federal investigators will look into Appalachia’s “zombie mines,” where coal production has ceased but which companies say are “active” to avoid reclamation costs. (Inside Climate News)

‍

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• The House joins the Senate in voting to overturn a Biden administration waiver that lets electric vehicle chargers made with foreign steel and iron still qualify for federal funding, though a veto is expected. (The Hill)
• Hertz will sell 20,000 of its electric rental cars, citing higher prices to repair damage to EVs, despite its goal to convert 25% of its fleet to electric by the end of 2024. (Reuters)
• Tesla promises raises for factory workers this year as the United Auto Workers try to organize unions at its assembly and battery factories in Texas, California and Nevada. (Associated Press)

‍

CLIMATE: Climate-fueled storms, flooding and rising sea levels are bound to drive coastal U.S. residents inland, but elderly people are likely to be left behind, a study finds. (Grist)

‍

POLITICS: The planned departure of several longtime U.S. House and Senate members who have played key roles in energy policy raises concerns about brain drain with the loss of their institutional knowledge on issues. (E&E News)

‍

COMMENTARY: A clean energy columnist calls on journalists to stop sensationalizing clean energy-related bird deaths, pointing to a study finding oil and gas drilling is more harmful to avians than wind turbines. (Los Angeles Times)

‍

GEOTHERMAL: Boston’s mayor briefly mentions a major new utility project in her State of the City speech: the city’s first networked geothermal heating and cooling system, to be developed by National Grid in the Franklin Field neighborhood. (WCVB)

‍

BUILDINGS: In her annual speech, Boston’s mayor also announced a new program to ban new city-owned buildings from using fossil fuels. (Boston Globe)

‍

GRID:

• Power outages across the Northeast are now down to around 85,000 as residents begin recovering from flooding and other related emergencies. (PowerOutage.US, Connecticut Public Radio, Delaware County Daily Times)
• With snow in the forecast, worries increase for the thousands of customers without power in New York’s Jefferson County and the immediate region. (Syracuse.com)

‍

FOSSIL FUELS: PJM Interconnection wants Talen Energy to postpone the planned decommissioning of two units at a 840 MW coal, oil and gas-fired Maryland power plant, citing pending transmission upgrades. (POWER Magazine)

‍

CLEAN ENERGY:

• New York’s governor describes her vision for the state’s clean energy transition in her annual State of the State address, but some stakeholders say the plans need to better incorporate equity for nearby communities. (CBS Albany)
• Power utility Public Service Enterprise Group raised its five-year regulated capital spending plan for clean energy and grid projects to $21 billion. (news release)

‍

OFFSHORE WIND: A Rhode Island senator proposes a new federal bill to clarify and streamline the offshore wind development pipeline process. (ecoRI)

‍

REGULATION:

• The president and chief executive officer of United Illuminating says Connecticut’s regulators are creating a hostile environment that is delaying current projects and limiting future investment appetite. (Hartford Business Journal)
• Massachusetts regulators kick off an inquiry to examine rate affordability for low-to-moderate-income bill payers and whether other models could reduce the energy burden. (RTO Insider, subscription)

‍

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Federal funds will help five Pennsylvania school districts to purchase 120 school buses powered with clean energy. (WESA)
• Boston-based rental car company Zipcar plans to double its electric vehicle fleet this year, including in Boston and New York City. (Boston Globe)

‍

CLIMATE: Maine’s state climatologist says climate change is the main reason every season over the last century has seen more precipitation. (Portland Press Herald)

‍

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Virginia schools have used federal funding, public-private partnerships and direct purchases to become the state with fourth highest number of electric school buses despite limited state funding for bus electrification. (Energy News Network)

‍

ALSO:

• A group of workers partner with the United Auto Workers to organize an Alabama Mercedes-Benz plant that makes some electric vehicle models, and say 30% of workers there have already signed union cards. (Alabama Reflector)
• As the United Auto Workers try to organize auto plants in Alabama, Tennessee and elsewhere in the South, an author and professor discusses why the union’s previous efforts to unionize the South failed. (WWNO)
• A rural Tennessee town is transformed as Ford builds a massive electric vehicle plant nearby. (Broadside/WUNC)
• A Kentucky school district purchases 23 electric school buses with a $9 million grant from the U.S. EPA. (WSAZ)

‍

SOLAR:

• After establishing a game-changing solar panel factory in Georgia in 2019, Qcells nears completion of a second, arguably more ambitious plant that will feature the country’s first fully integrated supply chain for solar manufacturing. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Charlotte, North Carolina, pays for construction of a solar farm on 537 acres as it looks to eliminate carbon emissions at all city-owned buildings by 2030. (WCNC)
• A Georgia county considers increasing setbacks and requiring buffers for solar farms. (WGAU)
• A South Carolina county approves a 41 MW Duke Energy solar farm. (Clinton Chronicle)

‍

OIL & GAS:

• A state-commissioned South Carolina study questions plans to build a large natural-gas plant, saying the state-owned Santee Cooper utility should instead consider using more solar and battery power. (The State)
• Investigators and environmental groups eye the growing number of natural gas-related explosions, including a recent Texas hotel explosion that initially appears to have been gas-related. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

‍

FINANCE: An investigation finds that half the funds banned by Texas for “boycotting” fossil fuel industries actually invested a combined $5 billion directly into oil and gas, and two thirds of such funds have more than $13 billion invested in Texas-based companies. (Bloomberg)

‍

STORAGE: An energy company begins operation of a 150 MW battery storage system in Texas. (Houston Chronicle)

‍

GRID:

• Texas’ grid manager announces a weather watch as it prepares for extreme cold weather next week. (Austin American-Statesman)
• The Tennessee Valley Authority enters the winter storm season having invested $123 million to harden its coal, gas and hydroelectric plants and $120 million in additional fleet improvements since it suffered rolling blackouts in late 2022. (Commercial Appeal)

‍

CLIMATE: Data shows the average temperature in 2023 was Texas’ hottest ever, clocking 3.5 degrees above the average for the 20th century. (Texas Tribune)

‍

COMMENTARY:

• Florida’s energy regulators need better oversight, but utility-backed state legislation could instead reduce accountability and transparency, writes a climate activist. (The Invading Sea/Miami Herald)
• A columnist considers the relative stability of Jacksonville, Florida’s municipal utility as federal prosecutors pursue the trial of former executives for allegedly misleading its board several years ago in an apparent attempt to privatize the utility. (Florida Times-Union)
• Researchers find that investment in renewables within Texas lawmakers’ districts hasn’t broken partisan patterns in voting on bills to hamper renewables and boost fossil fuels. (Heatmap)

‍

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The Biden administration awards $623 million for 47 electric vehicle charging projects across the country, with the money set to fund 7,500 new charging ports. (Associated Press)

‍

ALSO:

• As gas prices fall below $3 per gallon, it still remains cheaper to charge an electric vehicle — the equivalent of $1.41 per gallon, on average. (Yale Climate Connections)
• Virginia schools have used federal funding, public-private partnerships and direct purchases to acquire the fourth highest number of electric school buses in the U.S. despite limited state funding. (Energy News Network)

‍

EMISSIONS: U.S. power sector emissions dropped 8% in 2023 from the year before, largely thanks to a record number of new solar and utility-scale battery installations. (Canary Media)

‍

CLIMATE:

• The U.S. saw a record number of billion-dollar disasters last year, facing 28 instances of intense flooding, tornadoes, and other severe weather. (Yale Climate Connections)
• Researchers find human-caused climate change has diminished Northeast and Southwest snow levels, threatening water supplies and hydropower generation in the West and recreation in the East. (New York Times)

‍

CLEAN ENERGY: The world’s renewable energy capacity skyrocketed in 2023, growing at its fastest pace in 20 years, the International Energy Agency says. (Guardian)

‍

OIL & GAS:

• A top oil and gas lobbying group launches an advertising campaign meant to promote U.S. fossil fuel production as “vital” to supplying the world with “cleaner, more reliable energy.” (Guardian)
• A Republican senator and the head of a small oil and gas company both had assistance from the same oil lobbyist as they testified against the EPA’s proposed methane fee this week, submitting remarks that were almost identical in some spots. (E&E News)
• The Alaska Indigenous community closest to the Willow drilling project withdraws its opposition to the development on the condition that ConocoPhillips protects subsistence resources. (Northern Journal)

‍

BUILDINGS:

• Electrification and energy efficiency can reduce buildings’ energy intensity by nearly 40% relative to current levels and generate $2 trillion in annual savings, according to a recent report. (Facilities Dive)
• Boston’s mayor teases plans for a networked geothermal heating and cooling system and a ban on fossil fuel use in new city-owned buildings in her annual State of the City speech. (WCVB, Boston Globe)

‍

SOLAR:

• U.S. solar panel manufacturer Auxin files another lawsuit against the federal government, alleging a 2022 order to pause panel import tariffs is harming domestic companies. (Canary Media)
• After establishing a game-changing solar panel factory in Georgia in 2019, Qcells nears completion of a second plant that will feature the country’s first fully integrated supply chain for solar manufacturing. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Washington state lawmakers introduce bills aimed at expanding underserved residents’ access to community solar. (PV Magazine)

‍

POLITICS: Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy says long-stalled energy project permitting reform will likely only happen as part of a bipartisan “grand bargain” that would need to include more precise pollutant measurements. (The Hill)

‍

PIPELINES: After failed efforts to change state law, Iowa lawmakers suggest that blocking the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines may require intervention by the U.S. Supreme Court. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

‍

OIL & GAS: The Alaska Indigenous community closest to the Willow drilling project withdraws its opposition to the development on the condition that ConocoPhillips protects subsistence resources. (Northern Journal)

‍

ALSO:

• A New Mexico lawmaker proposes bills that would tighten oil and gas wastewater disposal regulations, seek more transparency from drillers and limit development near schools. (Source NM)
• The public comment period on a Biden administration plan to withdraw 224,173 acres in western Colorado from oil and gas leasing ends next week. (Aspen Times)

‍

CLIMATE:

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposes cutting $2.9 billion in climate-related spending from next year’s budget and delaying $600 million in funding for electric vehicle equity programs. (Los Angeles Times)
• Researchers find human-caused climate change has diminished Southwest snow levels by as much as 10% annually in recent decades, threatening water supplies and hydropower generation. (Los Angeles Times)

‍

URANIUM: The Havasupai Tribe and Arizona advocates oppose the Pinyon Plain uranium mine’s reopening near the Grand Canyon, saying it could contaminate groundwater. (Arizona Republic)

‍

SOLAR:

• Washington state lawmakers introduce bills aimed at expanding underserved residents’ access to community solar. (PV Magazine)
• New Mexico lawmakers propose legislation that would allocate $110 million to build solar projects on public buildings. (KRQE)
• The federal Bureau of Land Management seeks public input on a proposed 400 MW solar installation in eastern Nevada. (Renewables Now)

‍

CLEAN ENERGY: A Wyoming county seeks public comment on two utility-scale solar and wind projects proposed for private land. (Douglas Budget)

‍

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Portland, Oregon’s city council plans to use $1.7 million in federal funding to fill gaps in the public electric vehicle charging network. (Portland Mercury)
• New Mexico lawmakers representing oil and gas producing regions introduce a bill that would rescind a state rule aimed at boosting electric vehicle sales. (Roswell Daily Record)

‍

HYDROGEN:

• The Biden administration awards California and Colorado $28 million to build hydrogen fueling stations for big trucks. (E&E News)
• A California lawmaker proposes aligning state hydrogen rules with the Biden administration’s tax credit guidance to limit the sources of energy that can be used to produce the fuel. (E&E News, subscription)

‍

GRID: Storms batter Hawaii utility lines and generators, leading to power shortages and outages. (KHON)

‍

COMMENTARY: A California advocate urges the state to incentivize rooftop solar to offset net metering cuts, saying it would solve distributed generation’s equity problem while lowering utility bills and fighting climate change. (Los Angeles Times)

‍

STORAGE: Developers bring a 185 MW battery energy storage installation online in Hawaii to replace the capacity and grid services formerly provided by a shuttered coal plant. (Canary Media)

‍

ALSO:

• A Washington state utility partners with a developer to explore deploying an iron-air battery multi-day energy storage system. (Utility Dive)
• Federal data show California, Texas and Arizona lead the nation for the most installed grid-scale battery capacity. (Teslarati)
• A southern California community choice aggregator agrees to purchase power from a 20 MW battery energy storage project. (Solar Quarter)

‍

SOLAR:

• A California county approves a proposed 50 MW solar project on private agricultural land. (Sacramento Bee)
• A Colorado county places a moratorium on new commercial solar installations to give it time to develop regulations for the facilities. (Daily Sentinel)
• A California manufacturer sues the Biden administration for allegedly failing to enforce federal regulations on solar imports. (PV Magazine)

‍

WIND: Developers break ground on the SunZia wind project in New Mexico, set to be the biggest wind facility in the Western Hemisphere. (Associated Press)

‍

OIL & GAS:

• Oil production in Utah reaches record highs even after the Biden administration raises federal royalty rates and otherwise tightens leasing rules. (Utah News Dispatch)
• New Mexico economists predict oil and gas production will plateau or decrease in the Permian Basin this year, resulting in lower state tax revenues. (KRQE)
• The University of Wyoming partners with petroleum companies to research and develop methods of boosting oil production from aging fields. (Casper Star-Tribune)

‍

NATURAL GAS: A New Mexico utility says it needs to build a controversial natural gas storage facility on a city’s outskirts to ensure reliability, but residents worry about safety. (NM Political Report)

‍

CLEAN ENERGY: A Nevada county votes to oppose proposed lithium mining operations near a wildlife refuge and solar developments on federal lands, saying they could strain diminishing water supplies. (Nevada Current)

‍

URANIUM: Wyoming officials say rising commodity prices led to a uranium production uptick last year following a long period of industry near-dormancy. (WyoToday Media)

‍

CLIMATE: Colorado advocates push back on a university’s plan to upgrade heating and power equipment, saying it isn’t enough to slash carbon emissions. (Colorado Newsline)

‍

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• The Biden administration awards an Arizona city nearly $12 million to build out its electric vehicle charging network. (KTAR)
• An air taxi startup plans to build an electric aircraft charging station in southern California. (Flight Global)

‍

GRID:

• A remote Alaska community has experienced about one power outage per week this winter as above-average snowfall topples trees and utility lines. (KDLL)
• Strong winds and rain batter utility lines in the Northwest, leaving more than 11,000 customers without power. (KOIN)

‍

COMMENTARY: A Hawaii lawmaker urges the state to file a lawsuit against the fossil fuel industry to hold it accountable for its contributions to climate change. (Honolulu Civil Beat)

‍

Community solar could be an important tool to lower electricity bills and bring clean energy to low-income communities. But even as federal incentives aim to lower the cost of building community solar arrays, big issues still stand in the way, advocates tell the Energy News Network.

When a community solar array is built, people in the area can sign up to receive electricity that’s often cleaner and cheaper than what they’d get from their utility. It’s ideal for residents who can’t put solar on their own roofs because of installation costs or other reasons.

Incentives introduced under the Inflation Reduction Act aim to boost community solar, with extra tax credits slated for arrays that benefit low-income people and areas. But it’s not easy to qualify a household as low-income. The process varies from state to state, but it often requires that people provide tax returns and other documentation to prove their income — something that could make customers reluctant to buy in.

Federal law does try to tackle this problem by letting LIHEAP eligibility count as a measure of eligibility for low-income community solar bonuses. The low-income heating assistance program has been around for decades, so it’s more familiar to many people. States can also designate whole areas as low-income to smooth the process.

Read more about the challenges holding up community solar, plus some solutions that are rolling out, at the Energy News Network.

‍

More clean energy news

‍

🚌 New school: The U.S. EPA announces nearly $1 billion in grants for schools to replace diesel buses with electric and low-emissions vehicles, with a vast majority going to schools in low-income, rural and tribal communities. (Guardian)

‍

⚡ The grid’s big year: 2024 could be a make-or-break year for lawmakers, regulators and utilities to push through federal reforms aimed at making it quicker and easier to expand the power grid. (Canary Media)

‍

💰 What’s stopping decarbonization: Upfront cost is the biggest barrier keeping people from making home energy upgrades like swapping out gas stoves, while lowering energy costs and environmental impact is a top motivator, a survey finds. (Canary Media)

‍

🔋 The sunshine neighborhood: Every residence in an 86-home Florida development comes with solar panels and a home battery, ensuring none of its homeowners pay electric bills and offering a model for sustainable building. (Washington Post)

‍

☀️ Solar tax swap: First Solar enters two deals to sell $700 million worth of federal tax credits, a first-of-its-kind transaction that will let the U.S. solar panel manufacturer quickly bring in money from domestic production incentives it could otherwise only use to trim its tax bill. (Canary Media)

‍

🚙 Big cars, big emissions: Several automakers’ average fuel efficiency dropped from 2017 to 2022, largely because of the growing popularity of SUVs and pickup trucks. (Washington Post)

‍

🔌 The EV incentives list is here: The federal government published a list of electric vehicles that qualify for $7,500 and $3,750 incentives, which can now be redeemed at thousands of dealerships. (Inside Climate News)

‍

🏗️ Gas bans meet their end: A federal appeals court reaffirms its decision to strike down Berkeley, California’s ban on gas hookups in new buildings, invalidating other local gas bans in the 9th Circuit’s territory of 11 Western states. (Grist)

‍

🥾 Electrifying tourism: An Alaska carbon offset program uses tourists’ donations to purchase electric heat pumps for local residents. (Grist)

‍

UTILITIES: Following the defeat of a ballot measure to replace Maine’s investor-owned utilities with a consumer-owned power company, policymakers and advocates explore new ways to improve service. (Maine Morning Star)

‍

POLICY:

• New York’s governor will reportedly call for cutting back gas system expansions, reconfiguring the transmission project siting process and other clean energy and utility-related reforms in her State of the State address tonight. (Politico)
• Environmental advocates in New York want to use this upcoming legislative session to shift the cost of the climate crisis from ratepayers and taxpayers to polluters. (City Limits)

‍

WIND:

• Federal ocean energy officials release a draft analysis of the environmental impact of installing over 1,000 offshore wind turbines across six potential projects in the New York Bight; public comment opens Friday. (E&E News, subscription; RTO Insider, subscription)
• The mayor of New Bedford, Massachusetts, wants the town’s role in the offshore wind industry to expand from construction and development to operations and maintenance. (CAI)

‍

GRID: Utility crews mobilize and New Jersey’s governor declares a state of emergency ahead of a “powerhouse” rain and wind storm expected to sweep the Northeast tonight. (WHAM, NBC 5, NorthJersey.com)

‍

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Massachusetts and Connecticut are set to receive enough federal funds to respectively purchase 85 and 50 electric school buses apiece. (Worcester Telegram & Gazette, CT Mirror)

‍

SOLAR: In Northfield, Massachusetts, an almost 11 MW solar project makes installation progress as it resumes development following the end of an appeal of the local planning board’s decision. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

‍

NUCLEAR: New Hampshire and Massachusetts legislators request a public forum as they question a proposed consolidation of NextEra’s emergency management plan at the Seabrook plant and other nuclear stations it operates. (In-Depth NH, New Hampshire Bulletin)

‍

BUILDINGS: A new social media campaign launched by New York City teenagers encourages the mayor’s office to accelerate school building retrofits. (Gothamist)

‍

CLIMATE:

• Massachusetts’ top emergency management official says increasingly frequent and intense weather-related disasters are becoming more common and more difficult for cities and towns to handle. (Berkshire Eagle)
• A University of Maine study suggests that humankind’s evolutionary cultural adaptations have poorly set us up to solve the climate crisis. (Bangor Daily News)

‍

CLIMATE: The U.S. Supreme Court denies six fossil fuel companies’ request to move the Minnesota attorney general’s climate lawsuit to federal court, keeping the case at the state level. (Star Tribune)

‍

CLEAN ENERGY:

• After passing sweeping clean energy bills last year, Minnesota lawmakers expect to temper their climate policy ambitions this year as advocates hope for pragmatic solutions to build clean energy projects. (MPR)
• A group of clean energy workers in southern Minnesota volunteer on a board that helps promote the region’s transition to clean energy. (Mankato Free Press)

‍

POLITICS: The former Ohio Republican Party chairman wants to have his conviction in the state’s largest bribery scandal thrown out, saying government officials abused their charging and prosecuting power. (Cincinnati Enquirer)

‍

PIPELINES: About 200 landowners gather in South Dakota’s capital to call on lawmakers to pass bills preventing the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines and allowing counties to set local siting restrictions. (South Dakota Searchlight)

‍

GRID: Indiana utility NIPSCO and a chemical company will pay $66.7 million to settle charges related to manipulating grid operator MISO’s demand response program. (Utility Dive)

‍

SOLAR:

• A developer is in the early stages of pitching plans for a utility-scale solar project in eastern Iowa. (KWQC)
• A nearly 4.4 MW Nebraska Public Power District community solar project that was damaged in a June 2023 hail storm is back online. (Star-Herald)

‍

POWER PLANTS:

• The mayor of Superior, Wisconsin, asks state regulators to revisit their approval and conduct a new review of plans for a $700 million gas plant in the city along Lake Superior. (Wisconsin Public Radio)
• Wisconsin regulators are reviewing We Energies’ request to purchase a 100 MW share of a natural gas plant in Beloit owned by Alliant Energy for $94.5 million. (Journal Sentinel)

‍

OIL & GAS: Longtime scientist and advocate Sandra Steingraber says researchers have an obligation to speak on hydraulic fracking’s links to environmental health problems, and likens well sites as “these sort of giant cigarettes in the earth.” (Inside Climate News)

‍

STORAGE: A subsidiary of LG Energy Solution plans to build 10 grid-scale battery storage projects in the U.S. this year following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. (Utility Dive)

‍

HYDROGEN: Industry groups say the Biden administration’s proposed rules for a hydrogen production tax credit would kneecap the nascent industry while environmental groups say they are needed to keep emissions in check. (States Newsroom)

‍