Is the Midwest power grid ready for climate change?

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GRID: Advocates outline ways the Midwest’s power grid can be made more resilient to extreme weather threats in a changing climate. (Energy News Network)

EFFICIENCY: A Nebraska state agency will not face any consequences after misspending more than $4 million in federal money intended for home weatherization. (KETV)

CLEAN ENERGY:
• Major Indiana companies push Duke Energy and AES Indiana to offer more options for large customers to purchase renewable energy. (Indianapolis Star)
• While Michigan’s climate policies have largely depended on incentives over mandates, advocates expect to see more aggressive efforts to reduce emissions from the state legislature next year. (MiBiz)

PIPELINES:
• A 2021 Government Accountability Office report warned that corrosion was causing an increasing number of leaks on the Keystone Pipeline, noting that in one spill location, the pipeline had been eroded down to ​“less than half the thickness of a dime.” (Natural Gas Intelligence)
• North Dakota regulators fine the builder of a natural gas liquids pipeline $50,000 for building outside the corridor designated in its permits. (Bismarck Tribune)

BIOFUELS: Ohio corn and soybean farmers are increasingly dependent on the ethanol industry, with about 40% of the state’s corn crop now going to fuel production. (Columbus Dispatch)

MINING:
• A Minnesota agency has spent $6.4 million on legal bills defending its decision to issue a permit for a proposed copper-nickel mine. (Star Tribune)
• A court rejects the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s petition to review a permit for a proposed South Dakota uranium mine. (Mining.com)

UTILITIES: Ohio consumer advocates say state regulators are ​“unreasonably prolonging” an investigation into an energy buyer that dropped 550,000 customers after Russia’s investigation of Ukraine caused prices to soar. (Cleveland.com)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Ford raises the price of its base electric F-150 to just under $56,000, a 40% increase from the original $40,000 price point announced in 2021. (CNBC)
• Panasonic announces a multiyear deal to produce batteries for Lucid Motors at its new plant in Kansas. (Kansas City Business Journal)

SOLAR:
• Ohio regulators approve a 155 MW solar farm southwest of Columbus. (Columbus Dispatch)
• A Colorado company is negotiating with landowners for a solar farm in western Minnesota that could be as large as 200 MW. (West Central Tribune)

COMMENTARY:
• An Iowa farmer and clean energy advocate questions utility claims that coal plant closures are threatening grid reliability. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
• A former Ohio consumer advocate says Republican lawmakers ​“hid like chickens” when they inserted a provision defining natural gas as ​“green energy” into a bill dealing with food processing. (Cleveland.com)