Ohio law requires a look at new grid technology

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GRID

• A new Ohio law calls for regulators and utilities to consider software and hardware solutions to boost existing infrastructure on the grid, which clean energy advocates say will create more room for renewables and lessen the need for expensive, polluting coal-fired power plants. (Canary Media)

STORAGE

• Panasonic’s $4 billion electric-vehicle battery plant in Kansas, which is projected to bring 4,000 new jobs to a community of 6,500, drives an influx of new housing developments to meet anticipated demand. (Kansas City Star)

• A company begins operation of a 100 MW battery energy storage system in Wisconsin six months after it began operating a neighboring 200 MW solar farm. (Energy Tech)

SOLAR

• An administrative judge recommends approval of a 200 MW solar farm in Minnesota after the developer agreed to address concerns about decommissioning and the project’s effect on views. (West Central Tribune)

WIND

• Reports find the wind industry is growing in Indiana, employing nearly 7,000 workers and generating $23 million in state and local tax payments in 2023. (Building Indiana Business)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Ohio regulators approve a company’s plans to build a 200 MW gas-fired power plant to power a Meta data center. (Data Center Dynamics)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Republicans debate the rollback of clean energy tax credits in Trump’s ​“big beautiful bill” that have fueled the development of battery and solar batteries in numerous states, including Illinois and Indiana. (States Newsroom)

PIPELINES

• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service adds additional restrictions to protect the threatened Kirtland’s warbler to a permit for a company to operate a 16-inch natural gas pipeline in Michigan. (Michigan Advance)

EMISSIONS

• Indiana environmental groups send a petition to the U.S. EPA objecting to an air permit it awarded to Cleveland-Cliffs’ Indiana Harbor facility because of its likely harmful effects on residents in East Chicago and Gary. (Chicago Tribune)

UTILITIES

• Ohio lawmakers consider legislation to crack down on entities that purchase power wholesale and resell it to tenants by treating them with the same regulatory oversight as utilities, or at least prohibiting them from charging more than the standard consumer rate. (Ohio Capital Journal)

• Kansas regulatory staff and two other intervenors all recommend a smaller increase for Entergy than its requested $192 million rate hike. (Topeka Capital-Journal)

COMMENTARY

• Trump’s tariffs and the rollback of federal funding for clean energy threaten the growth of renewables and their boost to rural Midwest economies, writes a policy analyst from the Center for Rural Affairs. (Detroit Lakes Tribune)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Texas lawmakers approve a $1.8 billion fund to boost the power grid by supporting the deployment of microgrids at hospitals, nursing homes, water treatment plants, police and fire stations, and other critical facilities, Jeff St. John reports. (Canary Media)