Blog

Jul 08, 2023

Heat wave continues to strain power grid

HEAT: A deadly heat wave blankets the central U.S. from Texas to Minnesota, threatening power grids and other infrastructure. (Associated Press) ALSO: • Thousands of customers lost power in Wisconsin

HEAT: A deadly heat wave blankets the central U.S. from Texas to Minnesota, threatening power grids and other infrastructure. (Associated Press)

ALSO:• Thousands of customers lost power in Wisconsin and Illinois as utilities activated additional crews to respond to incidents. (NBC 5)• “It’s kind of like rush hour on the power grid.” An Ameren Missouri official talks about how the extreme heat stresses the company’s grid. (KSDK)• An extreme heat wave puts pressure on Wisconsin’s electric grid, increasing demand for power while also making generators run less efficiently. (Cap Times)• Evergy says excessive heat was likely a factor in a downed power line falling and igniting a grass fire south of Kansas City. (KSHB)

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GRID:• Grid experts say new technologies could help get more out of existing transmission and potentially reduce the need for new wires. (States Newsroom)• Ameren briefs landowners on a planned transmission upgrade in central Illinois that will mostly replace infrastructure in existing corridors. (Herald-Whig)

EMISSIONS: • Almost all of the country’s gas-fired power plant capacity could meet proposed U.S. EPA emission rules with only minor operational changes, according to an environmental group’s new analysis that contrasts with more dire predictions by grid operators and utilities. (Utility Dive)• Minnesota state and tribal leaders met with U.S. EPA officials to discuss how to use $4 million from a climate pollution reduction grant program. (WCCO)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Michigan’s largest utilities are playing a big role in the electric vehicle transition, from encouraging customers to ensuring the grid is ready. (Detroit Free Press)

NUCLEAR: Federal antitrust regulators raise concerns that Vistra’s proposed purchase of three nuclear power plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania could allow it to manipulate PJM’s market to drive up power prices. (Utility Dive)

BIOGAS: An Iowa landfill contracts with a company to install equipment that will capture and process methane to be injected into a local pipeline. (WCF Courier)

CO2 PIPELINES:• A South Dakota lawmaker says linking the state’s ethanol plants to a carbon pipeline network would “completely decimate” the industry by making it dependent on “climate-crazed” West Coast regulators. (Argus Leader) • On the second day of a permit hearing in Iowa, a carbon pipeline attorney and the state utility board chair complain about the pace of testimony, with staff estimating that it could last two months or more. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

SOLAR:• An Ohio city council approves a contract for construction of a 10 MW megawatt solar array on city-owned land in a flood plain. (Dayton Daily News)• Four more Ohio townships join a list of those banning large solar and wind farms in their unincorporated areas. (Morning Journal) • A Michigan township board meets in closed session to discuss a lawsuit filed against it by a solar developer whose project was denied this month. (Fox 17)

RENEWABLES: A Michigan city joins a DTE Energy program that allows customers to purchase a larger share of renewable energy. (Southfield Sun)

BIOFUELS: A group of Illinois lawmakers announces a new caucus focused on advanced sustainable fuels such as ethanol, hydrogen and biodiesel. (Daily Herald)

CLIMATE: Climate change could force more farmers and ranchers to invest in expensive irrigation infrastructure to sustain their operations through increasingly common extreme heat and drought. (Associated Press)

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INNOVATION: Ohio’s Brite Energy Innovators receives a $100,000 grant to help diversify its pipeline of clean energy entrepreneurs. (Business Journal)

COMMENTARY: Advocates with the Citizens’ Climate Lobby say climate action is bringing new investment to Illinois, and that state legislators should continue to do more. (Chicago Tribune)

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Dan has two decades' experience working in print, digital and broadcast media. Prior to joining the Energy News Network as managing editor in December 2017, he oversaw watchdog reporting at the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, part of the USA Today Network, and before that spent several years as a freelance journalist covering energy, business and technology. Dan is a former Midwest Energy News journalism fellow and a member of Investigative Reporters and Editors. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and mass communications from University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.