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Illinois training course aims to help fill hundreds of solar jobs

By Andy Balaskovitz

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SOLAR: An intensive 13-week training course in Illinois is connecting workers from underrepresented backgrounds to employers as part of a broader effort to create 1,000 solar jobs in Chicago’s South and West side neighborhoods. (Energy News Network)

ALSO: An eastern Iowa county considers multiple solar installations to power government buildings and save thousands of dollars a year on power costs. (The Hawk Eye)

GRID: An Illinois appeals court overturns state regulators’ approval of the multi-state Grain Belt Express transmission project, ruling that the developer failed to prove it could finance the project. (FarmWeek)

NUCLEAR:

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

  • A recent Illinois law requiring electric vehicle charging capabilities in new homes and multifamily housing is not yet quite a selling point as a relatively few homebuyers drive EVs. (Chicago Tribune)
  • Twenty-nine Michigan school districts will share $30 million in state grants to replace 114 diesel buses with electric or propane models. (MLive, subscription)

POWER PLANTS: Black Hills Energy plans to build a roughly $250 million power plant in South Dakota that would be powered by natural gas and diesel. (South Dakota Searchlight)

WIND: Despite the depiction of toppled wind turbines in this summer’s sequel to ​“Twister,” researchers say turbines are generally built to withstand extreme winds and tornadoes. (E&E News)

POLITICS: A Democratic candidate for an Iowa congressional seat says he can draw support from Republican voters who share his opposition to the use of eminent domain for a carbon pipeline. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

BIOFUELS: A sustainable aviation fuel producer selects Nebraska for its first Midwest production facility. (Brownfield Ag)

COMMENTARY: A new Minnesota coalition says electrifying homes and businesses will be key to bring down emissions and help meet the state’s clean energy targets. (Minnesota Reformer)

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