The high stakes of unionizing battery plants

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Allowing the UAW to organize workers at forthcoming electric vehicle battery plants could alter the living standards for much of the U.S. automotive workforce as well as the cost of electric vehicles, experts say. (E&E News)

ALSO: A southeastern Michigan General Motors plant will be idled for up to two years as the automaker delays the assembly of electric trucks at the facility. (Detroit News)

ADVOCACY: The new leader of Ohio’s state-funded ratepayer advocacy agency says refunds for unlawful utility charges are among her top priorities in the new role. (Energy News Network)

OIL & GAS: The Biden administration has started imposing new rules on roughly 400,000 miles of ​“gathering lines” that carry gas directly from dilling sites, a move that pipeline safety advocates say is long overdue. (Inside Climate News)

CLIMATE:

• Ann Arbor, Michigan, prioritizes state and federal climate funding on stormwater and floodplain management to build resilience and reduce risk. (Planet Detroit)
• Nebraska formally starts planning a statewide climate action plan that will rely on voluntary programs to reduce agriculture emissions. (E&E News, subscription)

PIPELINES: A landowner objects to Iowa regulators’ decision to hold a public hearing on Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed carbon dioxide pipeline on Election Day next month. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

WIND:

• MidAmerican Energy is testing a new radar system in which lights on wind turbines across four Iowa counties are only on when needed. (Radio Iowa)
• MidAmerican is working with local authorities to determine the cause of a fire on an Iowa wind turbine on Tuesday. (WHO)

FRACKING: A Missouri appeals court rules in favor of a state agency that revoked a permit for a silica sand mining operation that was intended to produce sand for fracking and other industrial uses. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

UTILITIES:

• Federal regulators extend a review of Vistra’s proposed $6.3 billion deal to buy Energy Harbor’s nuclear plants and retail power business, which critics say would unfairly influence power prices in PJM’s market. (Utility Dive)
• An Xcel Energy subsidiary and a Wisconsin electric cooperative are in a dispute about which utility has the rights to service a new residential development. (Star-Observer)

COMMENTARY: A former Natural Resources Defense Council program director says federal reforms are needed to designate safe storage spaces for spent nuclear waste. (Scientific American)