Iowa bill would give lawmakers carbon pipeline oversight

PIPELINES: Iowa lawmakers consider a bill that would give them power to block attempts by developers to secure eminent domain for a carbon pipeline. (Des Moines Register)

‍

ALSO:

• A Sierra Club official says instead of relying on carbon pipelines to offload their emissions, ethanol plants should make operational changes that cut emissions. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
• North Dakota’s congressional delegation calls on the Biden administration to allow uninterrupted operations of the Dakota Access pipeline, claiming ongoing environmental reviews are redundant. (Grand Forks Herald)

‍

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Steel highway guardrails are not designed to withstand the force of electric vehicles, which are typically heavier than gasoline-powered cars, according to Nebraska researchers’ crash test data. (Associated Press)
• Missouri’s St. Louis County will use $735,000 in federal funding to grow its electric vehicle fleet and install 41 charging ports at county facilities. (FOX 2)
• Supply and demand and the boom and bust nature of mining has sent lithium prices plummeting in recent months, creating another potential challenge to the electric vehicle industry. (E&E News)
• The chairs of two U.S. House committees want the Biden administration to investigate four Chinese companies they say are involved with a planned Ford battery plant in Michigan. (Reuters)

‍

GRID:

• Transmission constraints in grid operator MISO’s system in 2022 cost wind generators $800 million while incumbent generators maintained profits of nearly $1 billion, a University of Michigan researcher finds. (Utility Dive)
• FirstEnergy says its smart grid technology allowed it to quickly and narrowly shut off power for emergency officials responding to last year’s train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, allowing it to avoid widespread outages. (WKBN)

‍

OVERSIGHT: Documents show that Ohio regulators accepted utility companies’ claims of trade secrets to protect information about coal plant operations, even though the data was publicly available in some cases. (Checks & Balances Project)

‍

BIOGAS: Environmental and farming groups say a 28-mile, $13.9 million renewable natural gas pipeline planned to serve four large dairies would lead to further consolidation in the agriculture sector. (Star Tribune)

‍

EFFICIENCY: Energy efficiency has had a big year in Michigan as a new state law requires all utilities to offer energy-saving programs, federal rebates help offset residential investments, and Detroit starts measuring use in large buildings. (Planet Detroit)

‍