Evergy abandons Kansas City airport solar project after glare study

SOLAR: Evergy abandons plans for a community solar project at the Kansas City airport and considers a new site after an engineering study found the design would cause glare problems for air traffic controllers. (Energy News Network)

ALSO: Otter Tail Power Co. is planning a 49 MW solar project at the site of a coal plant expected to retire next year in western Minnesota, as some residents express land use concerns. (Fergus Falls Daily Journal)

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UTILITIES: Exelon plans to sell its solar power business to Brookfield Renewable Partners for $810 million as the utility weighs spinning off its entire power generation business. (Crain’s Chicago Business)

OHIO: The Ohio Manufacturers’ Association asks the Ohio Supreme Court to block charges to subsidize two nuclear plants that are scheduled to begin next month. (Dayton Daily News)

OVERSIGHT:
• Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is in the process of selecting an appointee to fill an upcoming vacancy this month on the Michigan Public Service Commission. (MiBiz)
• The Ohio Supreme Court orders state regulators to revisit a billing dispute involving a company that buys utility services at wholesale prices and resells them to other properties, including apartment complexes. (Columbus Dispatch)

POWER PLANTS: Developers of a 485 MW power plant in Ohio will initially blend 5% hydrogen with natural gas with plans to run on 100% hydrogen in a decade. (E&E News, subscription)

PIPELINES:
• Michigan regulators order a rehearing for Enbridge’s permit request to build a tunnel for the Line 5 pipeline after state officials moved to revoke the company’s easement in the Straits of Mackinac. (Michigan Advance)
• Pipeline opponents maintain protests in northern Minnesota as thousands of workers are expected at sites along the Line 3 replacement project. (Star Tribune)

COAL: Officials are investigating the cause of a building collapse at a southern Ohio coal plant that retired in 2018 as two demolition workers remain unaccounted for. (Cincinnati Enquirer)

OIL & GAS:
• Environmental groups cry foul as the Trump administration opens oil and gas drilling on more than 200,000 acres of the Little Missouri National Grasslands in North Dakota. (Inforum)
• A North Dakota synthetic natural gas plant reaches a milestone for the amount of carbon that’s captured at the facility and reused for enhanced oil recovery. (KXNET)

COMMENTARY: A Democratic state senator in Ohio says there’s ​“no reason” why the state legislature can’t act quickly to avoid power plant bailout charges from starting next month. (Cincinnati Enquirer)