‘Grassroots’ Ohio anti-solar group admits fossil fuel ties

ALSO: 

• An Ohio city considers annexing land and creating new zoning regulations to accommodate a proposed 40 MW solar project. (Peak of Ohio)
• A Wisconsin school district secured about $100,000 in state and federal rebates that will reduce the payback period for an onsite solar project to 12 years. (Up North News)

PIPELINES: 

• A carbon pipeline developer may have violated state rules by prematurely acquiring land easements for its project from another developer, an Iowa county argues in regulatory filings. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
• A 14th Iowa county passes a resolution formally objecting to the use of eminent domain for a carbon pipeline. (Globe Gazette)

CLIMATE: 

• Nebraska’s new state climatologist says she is prepared for public pushback on the topic and will work to explain how climate change affects all residents. (Nebraska Public Media)
• Planners in a northwestern Minnesota city grapple with containing excessive flooding during extreme rain events that are becoming more common because of climate change. (MPR News)

UTILITIES: 

• Evergy is asking Missouri regulators for a nearly 14% electric rate increase to recoup investments on two natural gas plants and a range of grid infrastructure projects. (Missouri Independent)
• Ohio regulators propose a nearly $1.5 million fine against Duke Energy for making more than 100,000 customer billing mistakes since 2022. (WCPO)

GRID: 

• Southwest Power Pool officials issued and then canceled an emergency alert Monday for 14 states as power demand threatened to exceed available resources. (KAKE)
• The grid operator also seeks federal approval to delay its interconnection queue study process and to stop accepting new projects amid a growing number of connection and withdrawal requests. (Utility Dive)