Redlining is blocking the clean energy transition

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Midwest Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

GRID

• Formerly redlined neighborhoods, including in Detroit, face disproportionately poor grid performance and reliability, high energy bills, and outdated infrastructure that lock out residents from the clean energy transition. (Floodlight)

• Under a new rate increase approved in Ohio, Duke Energy will be required to map areas in its service territory that have capacity for new electric loads. (Dayton Daily News)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Consumer and clean energy advocates call on Indiana regulators to reject Duke Energy’s $3.3 billion plan to replace two coal plants with natural gas units with a combined capacity of 1,476 MW. (Indianapolis Star)

WIND

• A developer says tariffs are partly to blame for its decision to temporarily halt plans for a 230 MW southwestern Minnesota wind project. (Star Tribune)

OIL & GAS

• Ohio officials halt hydraulic fracturing at a well pad following recent earthquake activity linked to oil and gas drilling. (WFMJ)

NUCLEAR

• Xcel Energy increases pumping of radioactive groundwater that has flowed toward the Mississippi River since a 2022 spill at its Minnesota nuclear plant, though health officials say there’s no risk to the public. (Star Tribune)

PIPELINES

• North Dakota judges have now ruled that two lawsuits challenging the multi-state Summit carbon pipeline can proceed, while a third judge has yet to rule on the developer’s request to dismiss another case. (North Dakota Monitor)

EFFICIENCY

• Oak Park, a village outside Chicago, considers contracting with the University of Illinois to perform energy assessments on buildings, provide efficiency education sessions, and advise on best practices. (Wednesday Journal)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Wiscon labor, education, and clean energy advocates say proposed cuts to clean energy tax credits would halt the domestic manufacturing boom that’s taken shape in recent years. (WBAY)

• Democrats argue during federal budget hearings that early phaseouts of Inflation Reduction Act tax credits would harm developers and raise energy prices. (Utility Dive)

COMMENTARY

• Business and civic leaders should raise concerns over We Energies’ proposed $2.2 billion investment in new gas plants that could lock Wisconsin into decades of volatile fuel prices and high infrastructure costs, an environmental advocate writes. (WisPolitics)