Catch the latest energy news from around the region. Check back for these bimonthly Energy News Roundups.
Electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian is suing Ohio for letting Tesla open car dealerships in the state but not letting other manufacturers do the same. Both Rivian and Tesla operate their own dealerships. Ohio law bans direct-to-consumer car sales for all manufacturers but Tesla, Rivian’s lawsuit alleges. Texas-based Tesla has three dealerships in Ohio. Rivian, which is based in California but manufactures vehicles in Normal, Illinois, said in the lawsuit that it would also open a dealership in Ohio if state law allowed.
The Biden administration promised over $1 billion to Great Lakes states last year through the Solar for All program. But the Environmental Protection Agency announced this month that it’s canceling the grants. This latest clawback of clean energy funds comes as the Trump administration dismantles Biden-era climate programs and loosens EPA regulations. It’s a blow to the entire region. Only a small fraction of the awards had been spent. The awards included approximately:
- $250 million for New York
- $156 million each for Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
- $117 million for Indiana.
- $62 million each for Minnesota, Wisconsin and a group of 35 tribes.
An Illinois city west of Chicago is leaving its power provider, Illinois Municipal Electric Agency, over IMEA’s reliance on coal. The city of St. Charles is committed to IMEA for another decade. But the power provider currently gets most of its electricity from coal and plans to keep coal in its generation mix until 2050. After deliberating for more than a year, members of the St. Charles City Council voted 8 to 1 last week not to sign a new 20-year contract that would last through 2055.
Ontario is considering an east-west pipeline to carry Canadian oil and gas to the province. Backers say the pipeline would create jobs and make Canada less reliant on U.S. imports amid uncertainty about tariffs and ongoing challenges to the Line 5 pipeline that runs through Michigan. Critics say Ontario’s recent request for proposals lacks key elements and seems “hobbled together,” as Member of Provincial Parliament Jamie West put it.
And a $214 million battery facility planned for southern Minnesota would be the state’s largest. It would also be the first battery facility connected directly to the electric grid, instead of being built alongside a renewable power plant. The 150-megawatt project was approved by state regulators last week and is scheduled to open in late 2027.
More energy news, in case you missed it:
- Oil spilled from rail cars after a derailment on a rural Wisconsin track is contained and has been recovered.
- The coal subsidies many Ohio utility customers have paid since 2020 came to an end Aug. 14 thanks to a recent state law.
- Federal regulators approved the sale of an Ohio coal plant from one private equity group to another.
- Rapid data center growth could trigger an “offramp” in Michigan’s climate laws that lets utilities keep running or building fossil fuel plants.
Michigan needs over 66,000 EV chargers to meet drivers’ current and future demand and ease range anxiety, researchers found.
Catch more news at Great Lakes Now:
Michigan’s historic nuclear plant restart still a go, federal regulators say
Ohio regulators clamp down on data center power costs amid soaring demand
Featured image: Tesla Cybertruck display at a dealership in Indianapolis. (Photo Credit: iStock)
