Xcel, solar advocates at odds over substation use

SOLAR: Minnesota solar advocates say a recent change in how Xcel Energy manages its substations is unnecessarily limiting solar development. (Energy News Network) 

ALSO:

• Illinois officials celebrate the state’s 100th community solar project, which developers say will provide affordable clean power and help lift people out of energy poverty. (Chicago Tribune)
• Officials at an Iowa school district say a series of solar installations is helping to cut the school’s electricity bills. (Times Citizen)
• An Indiana county adopts new solar regulations that include 3-mile setbacks from waterways following a moratorium that was in place since 2019. (Herald Bulletin)

LINE 5:

• Michigan residents share concerns about Enbridge’s planned Line 5 tunnel, which could become an election issue as critics call on the Biden administration to halt the proposal. (Mining Journal; E&E News)
• A Michigan panel that will oversee the construction of a tunnel for the Line 5 pipeline also will assess the potential risk of the tunnel’s construction and operation. (WLUC)

CO2 PIPELINES:

• Residents in a South Dakota county call on local officials to ban carbon pipeline development, citing public health and private property concerns. (Watertown Public Opinion)
• Iowa landowners express concerns after receiving voluntary easement requests from the developer of a 280-mile carbon pipeline between Iowa and Illinois. (CBS 2)

UTILITIES: Minnesota regulators approve interim electric and gas rate increases for infrastructure and clean energy investments from Xcel Energy and Minnesota Power. (Star Tribune)

GRID: Cuyahoga County in northern Ohio is set to launch what officials say is the first electric microgrid utility in the United States that will build three projects near Cleveland. (Morning Journal)

BIOENERGY:

• Minnesota county officials set a new timeline to close a Minneaplis waste-to-energy facility sometime between 2028 and 2040. (WCCO)
• Iowa regulators fine the owner of an anaerobic digester $5,000 for burying barrels of waste from the operation in a large pit. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

CLEAN ENERGY: Missouri officials are preparing to distribute millions of dollars in federal funding for grid infrastructure investments, electrification and clean energy work training. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

COAL: University of North Dakota researchers say they have found a feasible and economic way to extract critical metals from lignite coal. (MPR)