Ohio utilities could reintroduce efficiency programs under bill

EFFICIENCY: Bipartisan legislation advancing in the GOP-controlled Ohio House would allow utilities to voluntarily reintroduce energy efficiency programs, which were eliminated in 2019 as part of House Bill 6. (Energy News Network)

UTILITIES:
• The latest draft of Ohio’s state budget would allow utilities to add bill surcharges to support infrastructure for speculative economic development sites and electric vehicle charging stations. (Cleveland.com)
• Kansas City utility Evergy later this year will roll out time-based rates that adjust electricity prices based on the time of day power is consumed. (WDAF)

CLIMATE:
• Unhealthy air quality across the Midwest caused by Canadian wildfires prompts Wisconsin clean energy advocates to call for a swift transition to renewable energy to address the underlying climate issues. (Wisconsin Examiner)
• Michigan Republicans dismiss climate change as a ​“theory,” rejecting established science as they attacked proposed clean energy targets. (MLive)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Opponents of Ford’s massive proposed electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant in Michigan sue to stop the project based on zoning grounds. (WOOD-TV8)
• Ford is cutting hundreds of white-collar engineering and other salaried jobs as it seeks to trim costs amid a transition to electric vehicles. (Associated Press)

SOLAR:
• A Michigan utility introduces sheep at an 8.5-acre solar installation to help manage vegetation. (WWMT)
• Minnesota Power completes a 15.2 MW solar project, one of three recent installations using panels manufactured by an in-state company. (Daily Energy Insider)

NUCLEAR: State and local leaders in Michigan call for swift action and funding to restart a shuttered nuclear plant along Lake Michigan. (Holland Sentinel)

TRANSPORTATION:
• Michigan’s second-largest city receives a $6.2 million federal grant to purchase 11 compressed natural gas-powered buses. (MLive)
• The 2021 federal infrastructure law has already added 1,800 no-emission buses to U.S. roadways, more than doubling the number of such vehicles in use. (Grist)

BIOFUELS: The federal Inflation Reduction Act will deliver grant funding to North Dakota biofuel retailers that’s expected to grow the amount of ethanol sold annually by 400,000 gallons. (KXNET)

COMMENTARY: State subsidies for one of Detroit’s biggest polluters, a Marathon refinery, far exceed what the facility pays in pollution violations, an economic development watchdog researcher writes. (Planet Detroit)