GRID: The pair of 1950s-era coal plants bailed out under Ohio’s House Bill 6 law are likely to remain unprofitable even after record-high payments for generators in PJM’s latest capacity auction, experts say. (Energy News Network)
ALSO: Critics say the capacity prices are the result of poor planning, market design failures and governance problems at PJM. (States Newsroom)
UTILITIES: CenterPoint Energy agrees to pay a nearly $2 million penalty in Indiana to settle alleged violations of federal and state gas pipeline safety standards. (Courier Press)
SOLAR: A developer begins scouting sites for a roughly 1,000-acre solar project in southern Indiana that has drawn mixed reactions from local residents. (WHAS)
PIPELINES: Greenpeace is attempting to use a new European legal strategy to counter SLAPP suits as the organization defends against the Dakota Access pipeline owner’s claims that it incited protests against the project nearly eight years ago. (New York Times)
POLITICS: U.S. climate advocates say Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s measured and bureaucratic approach to clean energy programs, and success in attracting federal funding, will lead to policy gains at the federal level. (E&E News, subscription)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
- St. Paul, Minnesota, will likely have to cover the full costs of a new $1.8 million electric fire truck after failing to secure federal funding to pay for the vehicle. (Minnesota Reformer)
- Local officials approve tax incentives for a large electric vehicle battery plant Ford is developing in southern Michigan. (WOOD-TV)
- Improving electric vehicle efficiency could reduce stress on the electric grid, cut charging costs and decrease vehicle prices by nearly $5,000, according to a national energy efficiency group. (Utility Dive)
- Illinois’ high rate of electric vehicle adoption over the past three years could showcase Gov. JB Pritzker as a leader who can bridge the political and cultural divide over EVs. (E&E News, subscription)
NUCLEAR: Nebraska county officials unanimously pass a resolution declaring the county “nuclear friendly” as it seeks to lure a small modular reactor to an existing nuclear plant site. (North Platte Telegraph)
POWER PLANTS: An Omaha, Nebraska, coal plant will transition to run on natural gas in 2026, utility officials say. (KETV)
BIOFUELS: Officials earlier this month broke ground on a Michigan facility that will convert about 14,000 tons of dairy byproduct into 2.2 million gallons of ethanol annually. (FarmProgress)
COMMENTARY: Members of an Ohio conservation group say state regulators must remove more than 1,000 pro-fracking comments from a state website that a lobbying group submitted without securing the consent of individuals. (Ohio Capital Journal)
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