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Audit seeks root of Michigan’s poor grid reliability

By Andy Balaskovitz

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GRID: A third-party audit finds Michigan’s two large investor-owned utilities had worse-than-average outages and restoration delays than other utilities, driven by delayed tree-trimming schedules and outdated grid infrastructure. (Detroit News)

CLIMATE:

  • City planners in Detroit, Cleveland and other Midwestern cities are examining how to upgrade local infrastructure to accommodate a possible climate-induced migration of people. (The Guardian)
  • States’ climate investment plans could be upended if former President Trump is elected and makes good on promises to rescind unspent funds from the federal Inflation Reduction Act. (States Newsroom)

SOLAR:

  • Duluth-based utility Minnesota Power announces plans for two large solar projects totaling 205 MW of capacity in central and northern Minnesota, including at a coal plant scheduled to retire by 2035. (MPR News)
  • A Wisconsin nonprofit that works with contractors to help finance community solar projects receives $200,000 in federal funding. (Daily Reporter)
  • Kansas Geological Survey researchers receive nearly $900,000 in grants to develop a solar recharge system that would generate power in the underused corners of corn fields and also direct rainwater into underground reserves. (news release)

BATTERIES: A Chicago manufacturer of lithium ion batteries receives a $60 million federal grant to build a $175 million plant in Flint, Michigan, that would be one of the world’s largest silicon anode facilities. (Sun-Times)

NUCLEAR: The owner of a shuttered Michigan nuclear plant says it is on track to reopen the plant in October 2025 despite a petition asking regulators for a new framework for re-commissioning. (Utility Dive)

UTILITIES: Illinois reaches a $10 million settlement with an alternative energy supplier that was accused of deceptive sales practices that led utility customers into contracts with more expensive providers. (Journal Courier)

WIND:

  • The Omaha Public Power District signs a 20-year contract to buy power from a 300 MW wind project in southeastern Nebraska. (Renewables Now)
  • An Iowa city will install 10 public benches made from wind turbine blades by a recycling company that recently went out of business. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

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