Michigan plant aims to ‘change the battery world’

STORAGE: A company opens the first U.S. long duration, sodium-ion battery manufacturing plant in western Michigan in what officials call a “milestone for the battery industry.” (WWMT)

‍

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Minneapolis-St. Paul’s regional public transit agency will buy 20 electric buses to put in service by 2026 to help meet emission-reduction targets. (Star Tribune)

‍

GRID: A federal judge upholds a decision to block a land swap needed to complete a major transmission line between Iowa and Wisconsin, creating more uncertainty for the project. (E&E News, subscription)

‍

CLEAN ENERGY:

• A new report finds 54% of electricity produced in Minnesota comes from carbon-free sources, contributing to a 10% drop in electricity-sector emissions. (MPR News)
• A metro Chicago college expands its clean energy courses and certifications as Illinois scales up renewable energy development. (Daily Herald)

‍

WIND: North Dakota regulators approve plans for a 200 MW wind project that includes an 18-mile transmission line. (North Dakota Monitor)

‍

PIPELINES: At a North Dakota Republican Party convention, a resolution objecting to the use of eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines falls two votes short. (North Dakota Monitor)

‍

AIR QUALITY: Wildfire smoke helped keep Fargo, North Dakota, on an annual ranking of the 25 worst U.S. cities for short-term particle pollution. (MPR News)

‍

POLITICS: The top GOP candidates for Indiana governor say they would take steps to emphasize coal and reshape the state’s utility oversight board. (Indiana Capital Chronicle)

‍

GRID:

• Michigan is a national outlier for major power outages since 2000, ranking second only behind Texas in the number of incidents over that period. (Axios)
• Consumers Energy will install about 1,200 iron utility poles in its Michigan service area as an alternative to wood poles that executives will help curb outages. (WKZO)

‍

BIOGAS:

• The new owner of an Indiana biogas plant looks to make investments that allow the facility to more efficiently produce renewable natural gas. (WSBT)
• Local officials table a developer’s plan to produce renewable natural gas from a Wisconsin landfill. (WAOW)

‍

COMMENTARY:

• Ohio oil and gas regulators ignored reports of contaminated groundwater from drilling that was threatening the public’s health and safety, a columnist writes. (Ohio Capital Journal)
• Wisconsin lawmakers earlier this year rightly rejected proposals to limit private property owners’ ability to site renewable energy projects on their properties, a clean energy advocate writes. (Capital Times)

‍