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Utility’s ‘arbitrary’ cap is squeezing solar in southwest Michigan
Installing residential solar could be extremely difficult for southwest Michigan residents, as the utility serving the area drastically changes the terms for new connections after reaching a cap outlined in a 2016 state law. The law, which eliminated net metering broadly, created a program for small arrays that required utilities...
Federal funds can help Ohio electric co-ops cut costs and carbon emissions
A share of $9.7 billion in funding under the Inflation Reduction Act can help Ohio’s rural electric cooperatives save money while cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Buckeye Power, which provides generation and transmission services for the group’s 25 rural electric cooperative members, “has more exposure to coal” than any comparable group in the United States, said Neil Waggoner, federal deputy director for energy campaigns for the Sierra Club, so the IRA funding is an especially huge opportunity.
A developer chose a rural carbon sequestration site to avoid controversy. It didn’t go well.
The company seeking to build one of the nation’s largest carbon sequestration projects in Indiana was trying to avoid a “PR disaster” by locating in a rural farming area, a company executive said at a community meeting recently. But that decision has not preempted controversy over both...
New settlement agreement aims to put spotlight on DTE-linked dark money
This story was produced in partnership with Planet Detroit. A first-of-its-kind provision included in a DTE Energy regulatory case could shine a light on some of the company’s contributions to dark money nonprofits belonging to state politicians or political entities. The provision may also illuminate a financial link between...
How a climate-fueled disaster led a native Detroiter to a career helping her neighbors
This story was produced in partnership with Planet Detroit. Meghan Richards’ career as a community organizer began with a crisis. Amid historic rainfall in June 2021, Richards’ basement in Detroit’s Morningside neighborhood flooded, destroying clothes, furniture, and her furnace and air conditioner. She was worried about mold in the basement and didn’t know where to turn.
Hempcrete shows promise for healthy housing rehabilitation
This story was produced in partnership with Planet Detroit. Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated a home project used hempcrete as a substitute for fiberglass insulation. That product is called hempwool. The story has been updated. Seasoned housepainter Kim Croes had a big problem — increasingly, the...
For this immigrant-led clean energy company, perspective is everything
A Chicago-area engineer and CEO with roots in Ghana, Senyo Ador has a unique perspective on promoting clean energy and sustainable development. “You can come into a space like Chicago that has been built, caught on fire and rebuilt, and you juxtapose that against Ghana, [which] still is more like a blank slate that’s continuing to build its own infrastructure,” said Ador, who is the co-founder of Sẽsẽnergi Eco Solutions Enterprise in Berwyn, Illinois. “It’s almost like I’m cheating because I’ve seen a finished product and now I’m in a space where I have access to a work in progress.”
Critics question how climate-friendly an Appalachian ‘blue’ hydrogen hub will be
Critics say a pair of proposals to make Appalachian Ohio part of regional hydrogen hubs is likely to benefit the state’s oil and gas industry more than the climate. The two proposals are among 21 projects competing for shares of a $7 billion pot of grant money under the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The law defines hydrogen hubs as networks of clean hydrogen producers, their potential consumers and infrastructure connecting them. At least one of the winning projects is to be a “blue” hydrogen hub, meaning it would make hydrogen from fossil fuels with carbon capture, storage and possible reuse, or CCUS.
Climate advocate Kate Knuth on her new role as Minnesota’s agency’s climate director
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s administration has made multiple high-profile hires in recent months to help boost the state’s capacity to bring in federal climate funds. Among the latest is Kate Knuth, a former state legislator and Minneapolis mayoral candidate who was hired last month as climate director for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
Can cutting fees and red tape help lure solar companies back to this Virginia county?
One by one, tiny solar companies abandoned their rooftop ambitions in Prince William, defeated by tangles of red tape in the booming Northern Virginia county. Undeterred, Ray Masavage, owner of CAVU Solar since 2018, hung in there. Why?. It pained him to see seas of array-less houses in sprawling subdivisions...
In northern Minnesota, early adopters make the case for cold-climate heat pumps
Correction: Buildings account for about 40% of Minnesota’s total energy consumption. An earlier version of this story misattributed the figure to heating only. Michael Overend and Lucy Grina love to show visitors around their home, a modest four-bedroom rambler, built in 1965 on a gravel road just north of Duluth, Minnesota.
Illinois wants to keep old solar panels from piling up in landfills
Illinois is looking to close the loop on its booming solar industry. A new Illinois state law asks a task force to consider banning the dumping of solar components and batteries in landfills. If such a ban were enacted, it would leave stakeholders with less than two decades to come up with alternatives before defunct panels are expected to start piling up in the state.
Minnesota electric co-ops seek $970M in federal clean energy funds
A consortium of Minnesota electric cooperatives is preparing to apply for $970 million in federal funding that could help propel rural utilities toward the state’s 100% clean electricity target. The state’s largest generation and transmission cooperative, Great River Energy, convened the group, which so far includes more than half...
How Amazon’s HQ2 pushes the (building) envelope on embodied carbon
ARLINGTON COUNTY, Va. — It’s clear Amazon thought outside its own ubiquitous brown cardboard box when sketching blueprints for its second headquarters. At a series of mid-June opening events, guests oohed at the pair of sleek, 22-story glass-paneled towers on the former site of a nondescript warehouse near the Potomac River. And they aahed at the adjacent 2.5-acre public park replete with art, a central green, a playground, and gardens flush with native plants and trees.
More Massachusetts cities seek to ban gas, citing lack of diversity in pilot and urgency of climate crisis
Climate activists, legislators, and municipal leaders in Massachusetts are pushing a bill that would give any town or city the option to ban new fossil fuel hookups. State law currently allows just 10 communities to enact these prohibitions, but advocates argue the climate crisis is too urgent for this piecemeal approach.
Making Maine’s next generation of housing fossil-free — and affordable
Maine’s deepening housing crisis is colliding with the global climate crisis. The state’s population is growing faster than its housing supply — and that growth is driven in part by people seeking out temperate locations to call home in a rapidly warming world. Some advocates see an...
Chicago to pay for electric stoves, heat pumps for lower-income homes
Chicago is committing $15 million to help lower-income residents decarbonize their buildings, through grants for electric stoves, heat pumps and energy efficiency measures. The city recently issued a request for proposals for organizations to carry out the initiative, part of larger efforts to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of buildings and curb the health and environmental justice impact of indoor gas pollution and escalating gas bills. A virtual pre-bidders conference will be held on Tuesday.
Northland transmission line to boost reliability as renewables replace power plants
Large cross-country transmission lines carrying clean energy from remote rural areas to population centers will be a key strategy for reducing emissions. But as a project in Minnesota illustrates, the grid puzzle is more complicated than that. Connecting central and northern Minnesota, the Northland Reliability Project will reinforce the state’s...
Minnesota utilities work to ease path for Northland transmission line
The third powerline was the last straw for Marla Britton. Her and her husband’s 40-acre farm near Brainerd, Minnesota, is already framed by electrical wires on the east and south. When she learned of plans for a new project running along the north end of her property, she took action.
Twin Cities taps federal IRA dollars to analyze metro-area climate plan
The regional planning agency for the Twin Cities plans to take a closer look at its year-old climate action plan as part of its participation in a federal climate program. The Metropolitan Council operates transit, wastewater, housing and other services for the seven-county metro area including Minneapolis and St. Paul, making it a key player in climate planning.
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