Utility disconnections mount in Ohio

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UTILITIES

• Utility disconnections from unpaid bills are increasing in Ohio as customer debt mounts and electricity becomes more expensive because of an aging grid and surging demand, new data show. (Canary Media)
• U.S. utilities requested more than $18 billion in rate hikes over the first half of the year, including $2.7 billion in the Midwest, as public pushback grows over rising utility costs, according to a consumer advocacy group. (Stateline)

NUCLEAR

• Holtec, the company leading the country’s first restart of a nuclear reactor in Michigan, details how small modular reactors will play a bigger role in the firm’s future in filings with federal securities regulators as it prepares to go public. (Canary Media)

OIL & GAS

• Residents and environmental advocates raise alarms that radioactive fracking brine waste is likely to migrate into a southeastern Ohio county’s drinking water supplies. (Ohio Capital Journal)

GRID

• PJM’s latest capacity auction hit its price cap of $325/MW-day again while also falling short of its reliability requirement for how much power the grid needs during peak demand by 6.8 GW. (E&E News)

SOLAR

• Solar is having a slow takeoff in South Dakota, where some commercial-scale projects have survived the state and local permitting process while others have failed to advance in the face of opposition. (South Dakota News Watch)

CARBON CAPTURE

• Large carbon capture and storage projects raise concerns among rural residents in Indiana and other states as major companies look to cash in on lucrative federal tax credits. (The Guardian)
• North Dakota counties and landowners suing state regulators and the Summit carbon pipeline developer say public safety should have played a role in the project’s permitting process. (North Dakota Monitor)

GRID

• Wisconsin transmission owners and other state utilities keep up their efforts to block competitive bidding for new projects as grid demand is expected to rise in the coming years. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

MINING

• Minnesota regulators open public comments on plans for a controversial nickel mine that faces opposition from environmental groups and tribes but that backers say is needed to meet rising demand for cleaner technologies. (Sahan Journal)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Minnesota opens applications for a $6.6 million grant program that provides up to $150,000 for the purchase of electric farm equipment. (AgWeek)

EFFICIENCY

• New housing in Ann Arbor, Michigan, becomes the first apartment or condo building in the state to achieve PHIUS Zero certification with high standards for net-zero, energy-efficient design. (MLive)