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Ohio lawmakers find common ground on energy efficiency

By Andy Balaskovitz

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GRID: An energy efficiency bill working through the Ohio General Assembly is among the first signs of bipartisan policy agreement after the HB 6 scandal and comes as utilities brace for a surge in power demand. (E&E News)

CLEAN ENERGY: A new state office in Michigan begins work to help retool manufacturers affected by the shift to renewable energy, support clean energy workforce training, and diversify the state’s energy supply chain. (Michigan Advance)

UTILITIES:

  • Ohio regulators will stick to a piecemeal approach as they consider four separate, ongoing House Bill 6-related FirstEnergy cases despite calls from the utility and customer groups for consolidation. (Energy News Network)
  • A U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down part of a federal bribery law could result in a new trial for four convicted former ComEd executives and lobbyists. (Center Square)
  • Longtime energy executive Bill Fehrman is named the next president and CEO of American Electric Power. (Columbus Dispatch)

PIPELINES: More than 30 Iowa GOP lawmakers condemn state regulators’ approval of a carbon pipeline and pledge to review the state’s eminent domain laws. (Des Moines Register)

SOLAR: Detroit officials select three neighborhoods as potential sites for solar projects, while residents in five other neighborhoods will have an option to sell their homes as more sites are selected. (Planet Detroit)

POLICY: Ohio House lawmakers advance legislation that would provide loans and local incentives for natural gas pipeline projects. (Cincinnati Enquirer)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Michigan lawmakers pass a new state budget that includes $25 million for electric vehicle chargers but excludes $45 million Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sought for EV rebates and fleet support. (Bridge)

CLIMATE: Eight small Minnesota cities will receive state grants to prepare for extreme weather caused by climate change. (MPR News)

BIOFUELS: Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown joins a bipartisan group of lawmakers calling on the Biden administration to address a surge in used cooking oil imports from China used to make biofuels. (Cleveland.com)

STORAGE: Michigan utility Consumers Energy enters into a 20-year agreement for the use of a 100 MW battery storage facility. (MLive)

OIL & GAS:

  • An Ohio appeals court rules that a fracking waste well operator can re-argue its case that a state official improperly ordered changes to its operations, potentially bringing the well back into service. (Bloomberg Law, subscription)
  • A no-contact order remains in place for an eastern Michigan river as local health officials work to determine the source of a small oil spill. (MLive)

COMMENTARY:

  • “The common good is no match for what’s good for King Corn in Iowa,” a columnist writes, criticizing state regulators’ approval of a carbon pipeline that he argues benefits the ethanol industry and big political donors. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
  • The president of the Illinois Farm Bureau says policies that provide farmers certainty and flexibility will help to scale sustainable aviation fuel. (News-Leader)

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