Indiana utilities are a mixed bag on clean energy

CLEAN ENERGY:

• Six Indiana utilities received mixed grades in an annual Sierra Club report card measuring plans to retire coal, avoid new gas plants and add renewables. (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
• The report also finds that many major U.S. utilities are not only off track to reach 2030 emission-reduction goals but are in a worse position than they were last year. (Canary Media)

OIL & GAS: North Dakota officials say oil production in the state is expected to be down 60,000 to 90,000 barrels a day because of ongoing wildfires believed to have been ignited by downed power lines. (Reuters, Associated Press)

PIPELINES:

• The Iowa Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the constitutionality of a state law that allowed a carbon pipeline company on private property to perform survey work for the project. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
• Attorneys for Greenpeace ask a North Dakota judge to penalize the Dakota Access pipeline developer for allegedly refusing to turn over documents related to the company’s safety track record. (North Dakota Monitor)

GRID: AEP, First Energy and Dominion Energy propose several multi-state transmission projects to help resolve reliability issues in PJM’s territory. (Utility Dive)

CLIMATE: An annual Iowa climate statement endorsed by nearly 200 scientists for the first time focuses on individual action as a way to address mounting climate anxiety among young people. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• JD Vance calls $500 million the Biden administration pledged to convert a Michigan auto plant to make electric vehicles ​“table scraps,” and repeats claims that the EV transition will cost auto manufacturing jobs. (Washington Post)
• The Wisconsin-based manufacturers of electric fire trucks demonstrate the vehicles at a fire department in the Twin Cities to familiarize firefighters with the new technology. (WCCO)
• General Motors executives announce plans for a new Detroit-area battery cell development center while noting that electric vehicle-related profit losses have peaked this year. (Detroit Free Press)

WIND: University of Kansas researchers build an interactive atlas that gathers wind energy regulations from all of the state’s 105 counties to be used by local governments, developers and others interested in wind development. (news release)

NUCLEAR: A recent U.S. Department of Energy report suggests a new approach for designing nuclear reactors that would lower upfront costs and meet rising demand. (Utility Dive)