ComEd launches $40 million electrification program

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ELECTRIFICATION: ComEd is expanding a pilot program and will spend $40 million over the next three years installing electric and energy-efficient appliances in low-income households. (Chicago Sun-Times)

PIPELINES:
• A 2017 exemption allowing the Keystone Pipeline to operate at higher than standard pressure is receiving new scrutiny after last week’s spill in Kansas, the cause of which is still under investigation. (Wichita Eagle)
• Oil prices steady after the Keystone pipeline’s operator restarts a large section between Canada and Illinois. (Bloomberg, subscription)
• An Iowa county board indefinitely postpones a vote on carbon pipeline setback distances to consider more safety precautions. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

UTILITIES:
• Iowa’s state auditor raises concerns over long-term taxpayer obligations from a $1.2 billion deal the University of Iowa negotiated for the private operation of its utilities system. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
• A state audit earlier this year found FirstEnergy charged Pennsylvania customers $2.4 million in ​“inappropriate costs” related to an ongoing criminal investigation of the utility in Ohio. (Energy and Policy Institute)

SOLAR:
• Developers of a 100 MW solar project in southwestern Michigan expect commercial operations to start in December 2023. (Second Wave Media)
• A 300 MW solar project under development in Wisconsin divides landowners, as some neighboring farmers seek reliable income from land leases. (WKOW)
• A Kansas water utility plans to offset a portion of the power usage at a water pumping station with solar. (FOX 4)

CLEAN ENERGY: A new report concludes that state attorneys general will play a key role in the equitable clean energy transition, particularly as provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act are implemented. (Governing)

GRID: Electric cooperatives prepare for potential ice buildup on power lines and poles as a winter storm moves through southwestern Minnesota. (KELO)

BIOFUELS: A $12.8 million federal grant will help researchers at the University of Missouri and other schools modify plant materials so they’re better suited for biofuels. (Columbia Missourian)

COMMENTARY:
• The 40,000-barrel Keystone pipeline spill was predictable based on a decades-long track record of U.S. oil pipeline spills, a columnist writes. (Washington Post)
• North American Indigenous tribes raise concerns about Inflation Reduction Act incentives for domestic mining that could affect ancestral lands. (Minnesota Reformer)