Feds offer $1.5B loan to restart Michigan nuclear plant

NUCLEAR:

• The Biden administration offers a $1.52 billion loan for the first-ever effort in the U.S. to restart a shuttered nuclear plant in Michigan. (MLive)
• Southwestern Michigan officials and business owners recount the nostalgia and economic security of having the nuclear plant in operation. (Michigan Public)

PIPELINES:

• The dispute over Line 5 in swing states Michigan and Wisconsin could have major implications for tribal sovereignty, the power of states to regulate fossil fuels, and U.S.-Canada relations. (New York Times)
• Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is interrupted during a speech in Michigan by a Line 5 protester, and later responds saying shutting the pipeline down“could never happen fast enough for anyone.” (Michigan Public)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Ford plans to cut roughly two-thirds of its hourly workers at a Michigan plant building its electric F-150 as volume expectations drop. (Detroit Free Press)
• Qualified electric vehicle drivers in Minnesota will start receiving rebates through a state EV program next month. (MPR News)

GRID:

• U.S. grid operators object to newly proposed standards to ensure reliability during severe cold, highlighting growing tension amid the clean energy transition and weather-related failures of gas plants. (E&E News)
• Ohio utility officials say they are prepared for the upcoming solar eclipse, which will bring a temporary decline in solar production and a spike in traffic that could affect outage response times. (WTOL)
• Detroit-based utility DTE Energy files a $456 million rate increase request with state regulators that executives say would improve grid reliability. (Detroit Free Press)