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Ohio utilities missing reliability goals despite spending millions

By Andy Balaskovitz

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GRID: Ohio utilities continue to miss reliability standards for the average number of outages and duration of outages despite spending millions of dollars on service upgrades. (Energy News Network)

ALSO:

  • State regulators and power companies contest federal regulators’ new transmission planning rules, claiming they threaten states’ rights. (E&E News, subscription)
  • Michigan regulators consider new rules that would fine utilities for poor grid outage performance but provide incentives when grid reliability improves. (WXYZ)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Automakers’ scaled back electric vehicle plans have created just a few hundred jobs in Michigan after the state pledged $1 billion in public funding to lure projects. (Bridge)

CLIMATE:

  • Adopting statewide building codes and creating transmission incentives are among policies the Bank of North Dakota recommends for attracting carbon-conscious investors while supporting the state’s fossil fuel-based energy industries. (North Dakota Monitor)
  • Michigan Democrats propose creating an alternative fund for emergency cleanup costs from severe storms as climate change costs rise. (Bridge)

EMISSIONS:

  • Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio says he’ll join Republicans in voting to overturn the Biden administration’s clean power plan that targets emissions from fossil fuel plants. (Cleveland.com)
  • Kansas City utility Evergy, along with organizations representing about 75 electric cooperatives in Missouri and Kansas, claim new federal rules to curb emissions from fossil fuel plants will raise costs and jeopardize reliability. (KCTV)

OIL & GAS: A Canadian pension plan’s investment arm is the primary owner of a company that has invested $300 million in drilling for oil and gas in Ohio state parks and other public lands. (Athens Post)

HYDROELECTRIC: A team of University of Michigan researchers are developing a prototype that would harness wave energy from Lake Michigan to produce power for a remote island. (Interlochen Public Radio)

SOLAR: Ameren Missouri receives regulatory approval to buy a 150 MW solar project that’s under construction in Illinois. (Renewables Now)

CLEAN ENERGY: A utility in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula prepares requests for proposals that will help it meet a 100% clean energy target by 2040 to comply with new state laws. (WLUC)

COMMENTARY:

  • The manager of Michigan’s largest municipal utility says the company’s plan for a 110 MW natural gas peaker plant, when combined with its renewable energy plans, doesn’t contradict its clean energy goals. (State Journal)
  • A local publisher in Minnesota says rural quality of life should be considered as the state pursues a 100% carbon-free power target by 2040. (MinnPost)

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