More counties putting up local barriers to renewable projects

RENEWABLES: At least 15% of U.S. counties have halted new wind and solar projects through moratoriums, outright bans and construction impediments, making projects harder to build amid new clean energy targets. (USA Today)

‍

COAL: A newly formed Michigan advocacy group wants a local government to buy a retiring Consumers Energy coal plant along Lake Michigan and keep it operating as a first step to create a municipal utility. (MLive)

‍

BIOMASS: Two Michigan wood-fired biomass plants are set to close in the coming months as a utility seeks cheaper power options, raising questions about the future of the industry in Michigan. (Crain’s Grand Rapids Business)

‍

OVERSIGHT:

• A Wisconsin utility regulator who completed her term on Friday is credited with helping to make the agency’s work more accessible and for overseeing a boom in renewable energy investments. (Capital Times)
• A Nebraska lawmaker calls for increased regulation and more local oversight of the use of eminent domain for transmission and pipeline projects. (Nebraska Examiner)

‍

OIL & GAS: A 2011 Ohio law keeps details about the companies bidding to frack under state parks and wildlife areas confidential. (Cincinnati Enquirer)

‍

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: DTE Energy proposes a nearly $125 million plan to boost electric vehicle charging in low and moderate-income communities by providing rebates to residents and businesses. (Planet Detroit)

‍

FINANCE: A group of Wisconsin state pension holders press a state investment board to divest from all fossil fuel-related funds. (Wisconsin Examiner)

‍

PIPELINES:

• Farmers and landowners put up growing resistance to new pipeline construction, which could spread with carbon dioxide and hydrogen projects as the U.S. aims to cut emissions. (St. Louis Public Radio)
• Iowa’s Senate Republican leader opposes a bill that would let a minority of lawmakers decide whether eminent domain could be used on a pipeline project. (Radio Iowa)

‍

POLITICS: A nonprofit funded by Michigan’s largest utilities contributed at least $600,000 to three fundraising accounts tied to Michigan Democrats the year before sweeping clean energy laws narrowly passed the legislature. (Detroit News, subscription)

‍

CARBON CAPTURE: A company hopes its plan to capture carbon emissions from a fertilizer production plant to be stored underground will serve as a model for the industry. (Indianapolis Star)

‍

SOLAR:

• The USDA grants more than $800,000 to a central Michigan dairy farm to install a 1 MW solar project that will save nearly $135,000 a year in energy costs. (WNEM)
• The municipal airport in Iowa City, Iowa, will receive nearly $450,000 in federal funding for an onsite solar installation. (Daily Iowan)
• Wisconsin expects to receive $149 million in federal Inflation Reduction Act rebates, which construction executives say is already generating interest in solar and geothermal installations. (WisBusiness)

‍