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Illinois lawmakers plan follow-up to sweeping 2021 climate law

By Andy Balaskovitz

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CLEAN ENERGY: Illinois lawmakers are working on a clean energy and transit bill package that could be a follow up to a 2021 climate law and target gas-sector emissions, battery storage and electric fleet vehicles. (Capitol News Illinois)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

GRID: A new county-level map of power outage frequency in Michigan shows spikes in some corners of the state, and that average outage lengths in Detroit are nearly twice the state average. (Outlier Media)

UTILITIES:

  • A large investment fund plans to buy Duluth, Minnesota-based energy company Allete for $6.2 billion, raising transparency concerns among some about a private company owning a public utility. (Star Tribune)
  • “Safety is the number one goal” of a Minnesota bill that would improve the tracking and reporting of underground utilities and pipelines to avoid unintentional hits during construction projects. (Finance & Commerce)
  • Kansas’ largest gas utility seeks a $93.1 million rate increase to earn a ​“reasonable rate” on its investments and to attract talent to the company. (Kansas Reflector)
  • Illinois gas utility customers are on pace for steep bill increases over the next decade if utilities are allowed to continue infrastructure spending plans, a new report finds. (WBEZ)

SOLAR: Three utility-scale solar projects totaling 650 MW of capacity are scheduled to come online in Wisconsin this year, with three more larger projects in the pipeline. (Wisconsin Public Radio)

OIL & GAS:

  • North Dakota regulators approve an enhanced oil recovery pilot project that will inject a mix of natural gas, water and surfactants in hopes of pumping about 30% to 50% more oil. (KFYR)
  • Just one person has formally applied to replace North Dakota’s longtime top oil and gas regulator as a consulting firm plans to expand its search for candidates. (North Dakota Monitor)
  • Federal and state officials sue two pipeline companies over the illegal discharge of about 450 barrels of crude oil in an Ohio nature preserve more than a decade ago. (WXIX)

COMMENTARY: Iowa’s congressional delegation should act quickly to fix loopholes in a federal biofuel tax credit program that auditors found has the potential for fraud, a columnist writes. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

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