Downstate Illinois coal plant closes before solar-storage transition

Correction: The University of Minnesota and local planning officials recently deployed monitoring stations to detect diesel fumes in sewers after a series of incidents last summer. An earlier version of this digest incorrectly stated the fuel type.

COAL: A downstate Illinois coal plant in operation since 1955 closes today before transitioning to a solar and battery storage site. (Metropolis Planet)

GRID:
• More than 100,000 DTE Energy customers in southeastern Michigan were still without power this morning following a Monday storm, stoking already strong public pushback to the utility’s latest rate increase request. (Royal Oak Tribune, BridgeDetroit)
• Some Michigan lawmakers grow frustrated about the lack of movement on legislation to provide consumer protections and compensation for extended outages. (WDET)
• A startup company is working to make real-time emissions data from grid operators publicly accessible, which could help with tracking 24/7 clean energy pledges. (Canary Media)

UTILITIES:
• The Inflation Reduction Act includes a nearly $10 billion debt-relief program for rural electric cooperatives that will help member-owned utilities transition from coal. (The New Republic)
• Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announces $300 million in funding for energy bill assistance for low-income households. (ABC 7)

RENEWABLES: Siting new wind and solar projects in Iowa is increasingly challenging as misinformation generates strong pushback from some community members. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

CLIMATE:
• An Ohio environmental attorney notes that the Inflation Reduction Act includes language giving the U.S. EPA clear authority to regulate greenhouse gasses under the Clean Air Act. (Statehouse News Bureau)
• La Crosse, Wisconsin, considers a suite of new local policies to help combat climate change and strengthen clean energy initiatives. (La Crosse Tribune)

PIPELINES: A crowd of roughly 100 people at the first informational meeting in Iowa for a carbon capture pipeline mostly criticize and question the project’s technology. (Press-Citizen)

OIL & GAS: The University of Minnesota and local planning officials deploy new monitoring stations to detect fumes from diesel fuel after explosive levels were found in sewers last summer. (CBS Minnesota)

STORAGE:
• Researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio have been working for four years to develop electrolytes that can lower the cost of utility-scale battery storage systems. (Cleveland.com)
• A nearly $11 million, federally funded program at the University of Michigan will examine ceramic ion conductors’ potential for improving electric vehicle and energy storage batteries. (PV Magazine)

SOLAR: The Inflation Reduction Act is expected to help lower solar installation costs in Indiana, where customers recently lost the ability to use net metering under a state law. (Herald Republican)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A new General Motors manufacturing plant in Ohio begins producing cells for various electric vehicle models. (Associated Press)
• Clean energy advocates say spreading charging infrastructure costs across Xcel Energy’s Minnesota ratepayers will help to meet the state’s electric vehicle adoption goals. (CBS Minnesota)