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A push for green steel in the automotive capital of the U.S.

By Andy Balaskovitz

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EMISSIONS: Clean energy and environmental justice advocates push the owner of a southeastern Michigan steel making facility to replace its blast furnace with new technology that could run on clean hydrogen. (Energy News Network)

GRID:

  • President-elect Trump’s promise to claw back unspent Inflation Reduction Act funds could upend Minnesota utilities’ multibillion-dollar grid infrastructure plans. (Star Tribune)
  • Federal regulators approve a revised joint operating agreement between MISO and the Southwest Power Pool for a $1.8 billion transmission buildout along the grid operators’ seam. (Utility Dive)

CARBON CAPTURE:

  • North Dakota regulators approve Summit Carbon Solutions’ section of proposed carbon pipeline through the state after initially rejecting the proposal. (Associated Press)
  • Summit also now seeks permits in Iowa to connect 13 additional ethanol plants, expanding the project in Iowa from about 690 miles of pipe to more than 1,000 miles. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
  • Summit sues a third Iowa county for attempting to enact regulations over the project. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
  • Iowa researchers are working to determine how well the state’s geology could support carbon capture and storage. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

SOLAR: Officials in Kansas City as well as utility Evergy are staying quiet on what has held up detailed plans for a 35 MW solar project at the city’s airport. (Our Community Now)

CLEAN ENERGY: Federal agencies rush to get Inflation Reduction Act-funded grants, such as $22 million for rural clean energy projects in Michigan, before they are potentially clawed back by the Trump administration. (Michigan Public)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

  • Illinois will use a portion of more than $500 million in federal pollution-reduction grants for heavy-duty electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. (WAND)
  • Michigan transportation officials focus on bringing public electric vehicle charging stations to rural counties to better connect drivers with urban centers. (Capital News Service)
  • Wisconsin on Jan. 1 will start to implement a new 3-cent excise tax per kilowatt-hour of electricity used to charge electric vehicles. (FOX 6)

POLITICS:

  • The jury foreman in the bribery case of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder says the former lawmaker’s plan to use connections to Trump to avoid prison time is the same kind of corruption for which he was convicted. (Ohio Capital Journal)
  • Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, will also chair a National Energy Council that aims to advance domestic energy production. (Reuters)
  • Tribal leaders in the Great Plains region welcomed Burgum’s nomination to the roles, based on previously constructive relationships with him as governor. (North Dakota Monitor)

GEOTHERMAL: A small landfill in northern Minnesota will use geothermal power capturing heat from decomposing waste to power a wastewater treatment plant that destroys PFAS chemicals. (MPR News)

COMMENTARY:

  • Northern Ohio cities along Lake Erie should begin planning for a population influx driven by people escaping the effects of climate change, an editorial board writes. (Toledo Blade)
  • Market forces, consumer demand and technology innovation have created economic momentum behind the clean energy transition, regardless of who’s in the White House, Minnesota clean energy advocates write. (Star Tribune)

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