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Can AI fix a major problem with community solar?

By Andy Balaskovitz

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SOLAR: A company is training artificial intelligence to help identify community solar customers at risk of unsubscribing, and also to develop a more equitable screening alternative to credit scores. (Energy News Network)

CARBON CAPTURE: Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker says he will sign legislation that bans carbon pipelines until federal regulators adopt new safety regulations and that create more extensive monitoring at storage sites. (Capitol News Illinois)

RENEWABLES: An attempted ballot initiative to repeal Michigan’s new renewable energy siting law fails to gather enough signatures to make the November ballot. (Bridge)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The Biden administration will provide roughly 530 school districts across 47 states with nearly $1 billion to help buy new school buses, nearly all of which would be electric. (States Newsroom)

OIL & GAS: One person was killed and seven were injured after a natural gas explosion leveled a bank in downtown Youngstown, Ohio. (WTAE)

OHIO: Attorney General Dave Yost says he won’t explain his alleged involvement in Ohio’s House Bill 6 corruption scandal because of multiple ongoing, and potentially more, cases. (Ohio Capital Journal)

ELECTRIFICATION: A nonprofit serving Minnesota’s Latin American immigrant community promotes state and federal programs that can help residents switch to electric and clean energy technologies. (Sahan Journal)

AIR QUALITY: Federal officials add Detroit-based utility DTE Energy to a lawsuit alleging Clean Air Act violations at a coal-powered facility that produces material to make steel. (Detroit News)

PIPELINES:

  • Summit Carbon Solutions officials say their proposed multi-state carbon pipeline would be able to quickly shut down in the event of a power outage. (North Dakota Monitor)
  • A Missouri farmer says major pipeline operators have been unresponsive to his concerns that multiple gas pipelines running through his property are too shallow and at risk of being struck by equipment. (Southeast Missourian)

EFFICIENCY: Federal agencies adopt updated energy standards for new single and multi family homes that receive federal funding in an effort to climate-proof homes and guard against rising electricity costs. (Iowa Public Radio)

GRID: A consumer advocate says Michigan utilities are playing catch up to improve grid reliability with regular rate increase requests that companies say are necessary to improve performance. (Bridge)

BIOFUELS: Officials break ground on the $230 million expansion of an Indiana ethanol plant that will also be equipped to produce renewable natural gas. (Farmers Advance)

COMMENTARY: A Wisconsin meteorologist says it’s crucial to talk openly and honestly about the way climate change is contributing to extreme weather and disrupting peoples’ lives. (Capital Times)

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