Michigan governor signs clean energy legislation

CLEAN ENERGY: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signs a series of energy-related bills, including legislation expanding clean energy subsidies for businesses and cutting red tape for solar developers. (Detroit Free Press)

ALSO:
• The federal Inflation Reduction Act has sparked more clean energy projects in Michigan than any other state, attracting more than 15,800 jobs and $21 billion in investments over the past year, a report finds. (Michigan Advance)
• A manufacturer of power distribution cables announces a major expansion of its Southern Illinois factory that will add 100,000 square feet and 80 new jobs with the help of nearly $18 million in state tax incentives. (Capital News Illinois)

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Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition Accepting Applications for Funding
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CLIMATE:
• The regional planning agency for the Twin Cities will use a federal grant to study the potential impact of its climate action work plan. (Energy News Network)
• Record-breaking rains that flooded thousands of basements in Chicago this month underscore the urgency of flood resilience projects, city officials say. (Inside Climate News)

HEAT:
• Grid operator PJM issues an emergency alert asking all power plants to run at full capacity amid surging electricity demand for air conditioning. (Bloomberg)
• Today is expected to be the hottest day of the year in Chicago, with a heat index up to 110 degrees, along with unhealthy air pollution. (Sun Times)
• Utilities from Nebraska to Minnesota asked customers to conserve power Thursday in response to surging demand for cooling. (KETV, KIMT)

GRID:
• Ann Arbor, Michigan, residents are ​“sick and tired” of power outages after a severe thunderstorm caused another widespread outage this week. (MLive)
• A Kansas family has been without power for two weeks and still have a thick black electricity cable laying in their backyard from a July 14 storm. (Fox 4 KC)

SOLAR:
• First Solar says it will spend up to $1.1 billion to open a fifth U.S. factory in 2026 as the thin-film solar manufacturer continues to expand in northwest Ohio. (CNBC, Toledo Blade)
• A solar developer asks Iowa regulators to waive a required public hearing because most written comments have been supportive of its project. (Southeast Iowa Union)
• Rural Ohio residents complain about living near a large solar farm that is powering more than 400 municipal buildings in Cincinnati. (WCPO)
• A northeastern Wisconsin town taps into federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to install solar panels on its 120-year-old town hall. (Stevens Point News)
• Wisconsin farmers are using a solar-powered irrigation system to sustain crops through a dry spell this summer. (Fox 6 Milwaukee)

WIND: The Ohio Supreme Court gives final approval to a proposed 71-turbine wind farm, saying opponents did not do enough to establish that the project’s site permit should not have been approved. (Capital Journal)

CO2 PIPELINES:
• Central Illinois residents raise concerns about a plan to bury a carbon dioxide pipeline under some of Peoria’s oldest and poorest neighborhoods. (WCBU)
• An attorney representing South Dakota landowners fails to convince state regulators to make public a map of environmentally sensitive areas in the path of a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline. (South Dakota Searchlight)

NATURAL GAS: A consumer advocate’s report questions an increase in capital spending by Minnesota gas utilities, which could strand a smaller customer base with much larger fees in the future. (Minnesota Reformer)

BIOGAS: A Cincinnati company breaks ground on a facility in Saint Bernard, Ohio, that will convert food waste into renewable natural gas. (WLWT)

COMMENTARY: The co-director of a Wisconsin nonprofit writes that blending solar panels and agriculture has the potential to lower energy costs, reduce global warming and boost income for farmers. (Cap Times)