Vacant urban land raises complex questions for clean energy

CLEAN ENERGY: In Detroit and Chicago, efforts to improve access to clean energy in underserved neighborhoods pose complex questions about the use of vacant land for projects. (Energy News Network)

ALSO: Xcel Energy scales back plans to build multiple gas peaker plants as part of its long-term clean energy plan in Minnesota, saying that one new gas plant is all it needs for now to meet projected demand. (Star Tribune)

RENEWABLES: A University of Wisconsin researcher finds that the long process of securing approvals from tribal and federal entities contributes to the lack of commercial-scale wind and solar development on reservations. (Grist)

CLIMATE: Scientists launched weather balloons around Chicago this summer to better understand and predict how climate change-driven heat and urban heat islands will affect neighborhoods. (Sun-Times)

NUCLEAR: Minnesota regulators order Xcel Energy to refund customers millions of dollars they paid for more expensive power after utility workers severed a cable that shut down a nuclear plant for months. (Star Tribune)

PIPELINES: The Summit carbon pipeline developer wraps up public meetings in 23 Iowa counties over the past month on its plan to add 330 miles to the original pipeline route. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

EFFICIENCY: An apartment complex with 16 townhomes in Kansas City, Missouri, receives $3.6 million in federal Inflation Reduction Act funding to make various efficiency upgrades and electrify appliances. (Inside Climate News)

OIL & GAS: The push to build new data centers to support artificial intelligence will likely contribute to more methane emissions as more gas plants come online, according to an environmental data firm’s new report. (The New Republic)