SOLAR: An intensive 13-week training course in Illinois is connecting workers from underrepresented backgrounds to employers as part of a broader effort to create 1,000 solar jobs in Chicago’s South and West side neighborhoods. (Energy News Network)
ALSO: An eastern Iowa county considers multiple solar installations to power government buildings and save thousands of dollars a year on power costs. (The Hawk Eye)
GRID: An Illinois appeals court overturns state regulators’ approval of the multi-state Grain Belt Express transmission project, ruling that the developer failed to prove it could finance the project. (FarmWeek)
NUCLEAR:
- The owner of a southwestern Michigan nuclear plant disputes claims by a former plant employee that the facility may not be safe to bring back online. (HuffPost)
- Tech companies increasingly seek to directly connect data centers to nuclear plants, a plan that has drawn opposition from some utilities that claim it would harm other ratepayers. (CNBC)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
- A recent Illinois law requiring electric vehicle charging capabilities in new homes and multifamily housing is not yet quite a selling point as a relatively few homebuyers drive EVs. (Chicago Tribune)
- Twenty-nine Michigan school districts will share $30 million in state grants to replace 114 diesel buses with electric or propane models. (MLive, subscription)
POWER PLANTS: Black Hills Energy plans to build a roughly $250 million power plant in South Dakota that would be powered by natural gas and diesel. (South Dakota Searchlight)
WIND: Despite the depiction of toppled wind turbines in this summer’s sequel to “Twister,” researchers say turbines are generally built to withstand extreme winds and tornadoes. (E&E News)
POLITICS: A Democratic candidate for an Iowa congressional seat says he can draw support from Republican voters who share his opposition to the use of eminent domain for a carbon pipeline. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
BIOFUELS: A sustainable aviation fuel producer selects Nebraska for its first Midwest production facility. (Brownfield Ag)
COMMENTARY: A new Minnesota coalition says electrifying homes and businesses will be key to bring down emissions and help meet the state’s clean energy targets. (Minnesota Reformer)
More from the Energy News Network: Midwest | Southeast | Northeast | West