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More requests for fracking in Ohio wildlife areas

By Andy Balaskovitz

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OIL & GAS: An Ohio commission receives two new requests to allow hydraulic fracturing in a state wildlife area, following a 2023 state law that aims to speed up the oil and gas leasing on state land. (Canton Repository)

ALSO: North Dakota officials are monitoring an 84,000-gallon oil spill that leaked from a storage tank late last week. (Inforum)

WIND: Wind energy becomes a divisive topic in a conservative western Minnesota county where landowners seeking additional revenue through wind leases face pushback from other residents. (Star Tribune)

PIPELINES:

  • Four groups say they are prepared to ask Iowa regulators to reconsider their approval of the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline, whose fate ultimately could be decided in court. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
  • A tribe in northern Wisconsin pitches a plan to Enbridge to slow erosion along the banks of the Bad River and reduce the risk of a spill from Line 5. (WPR)
  • Michigan environmental groups say their next attempt to stop the construction of a tunnel for Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac will focus on the federal pipeline review process. (WXPR)

UTILITIES: Rising gas prices, grid infrastructure investments and utility business models that incentivize capital spending are the primary contributors to rising electricity costs, according to a recent report dispelling claims that clean energy is the culprit. (Canary Media)

GRID: Illinois consumer advocates say grid operator PJM’s requests for exemptions from certain federal interconnection reforms would slow the clean energy transition. (Chicago Tribune, subscription)

CLIMATE:

EMISSIONS: Minneapolis is investing $700,000 in a municipal biochar production facility that officials say will make a product that removes carbon from the atmosphere and serves as a crucial building material. (Star Tribune)

NUCLEAR: A public hearing over a plan to reopen a shuttered Michigan nuclear plant brings out opponents who say the proposal is too risky and supporters who argue it would help meet the state’s clean energy goals. (Michigan Public)

EFFICIENCY:

  • Missouri businesses are on track to save more than $2.1 million in electricity costs after participating in a utility energy efficiency program. (KHQA)
  • Minnesota officials seek to ensure that federally funded rebates for home efficiency upgrades are distributed equitably among residents. (Spokesman-Recorder)

TRANSPORTATION:

  • Transit systems in Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan, receive more than $55 million in federal funding to replace diesel buses with hydrogen and hybrid electric models. (WDET)
  • The University of Iowa receives a $16.4 million federal grant to replace part of its bus fleet with electric vehicles and upgrade facilities. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

COMMENTARY: The head of an Indiana environmental group says distributed generation should play a key role as electricity demand is expected to increase from large manufacturing and data center projects. (Indiana Capital Chronicle)

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