Chicago group aims to boost EV adoption in environmental justice communities

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Midwest Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• A South Side Chicago community development group’s latest clean energy initiative seeks to grow EV adoption among Black and Brown drivers and build charging infrastructure in environmental justice communities disproportionately affected by pollution. (Canary Media)

UTILITIES

• Missouri lawmakers send a bill to Gov. Mike Kehoe that repeals a nearly 50-year-old consumer protection law and allows utilities to charge customers for power plants that are under construction and not yet operating. (Missouri Independent)

• While Wisconsin imports only a small fraction of its electricity from Manitoba, tariffs on those imports could have an indeterminate effect on prices and the regional grid, and could potentially affect other energy sectors. (Wisconsin Public Radio)

COAL

• Environmental groups plan to sue Alliant Energy’s Iowa affiliate, claiming the company is discharging polluted groundwater from under a coal ash landfill without a permit. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

OIL & GAS

• Ohio appeals court judges deny environmental advocates’ attempt to block state leases approved for oil and gas drilling beneath state parks and wildlife areas. (Cleveland.com)

EMISSIONS

• Wisconsin clean energy advocates say the Trump administration’s effort to roll back various emissions–reduction regulations will leave residents paying the environmental and public health costs of increasing fossil fuel use. (Wisconsin Public Radio)

GRID

• A federal appeals court lifts an injunction that had blocked Indiana’s right of first refusal law that gives Indiana-based utilities first rights to build transmission projects. (Courthouse News Service)

PIPELINES

• During a trial, the former head of Greenpeace’s U.S. affiliate refutes allegations that the organization was the driving force behind Dakota Access pipeline protests, and notes that the group got involved at the request of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. (South Dakota Searchlight)

• The Trump administration terminates a case over whether to debar the Dakota Access pipeline developer, which also ends the EPA’s ban on federal contracts for the company. (E&E News)

SOLAR

• A western Illinois county advances plans for a 5 MW community solar project for Ameren and eyes two more potential locations for projects. (WGEM)

• A national nonprofit focused on preserving farmland says support for agrivoltaic solar projects will come down to state policies, and acceptance of the practice will vary by community. (Heatmap)

• The head of a Michigan clean energy group believes market demand for solar will remain strong because of declining prices and battery technology improvements that allow homeowners to efficiently store their energy. (WXPR)