WIND: High wind speeds in April produced “unprecedented power production” across the Upper Midwest. (Minnesota Public Radio)
STORAGE: A Minnesota co-op leads an initiative pushing for the greater use of electric water heaters and electric vehicles as a means for energy storage. (Midwest Energy News)
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UTILITIES:
• Returning Ohio to a regulated electric market would not be easy. (Columbus Dispatch)
• Opponents of the two “bailout” deals in Ohio have reached the deadline to file requests for a re-hearing with state regulators. (Associated Press)
• An Illinois utility rejects a local park district’s offer to pay past-due electric bills at a state park that have mounted during the state’s budget impasse. (Belleville News-Democrat)
• The retiring CEO of We Energies says he has no regrets about his strategies at the utility, which included a $9 billion merger last year. (Milwaukee Business Journal)
CLEAN POWER PLAN: Challengers to the Clean Power Plan ask federal judges for five hours of oral arguments across two days in June — typically cases get 20 to 40 minutes. (Greenwire)
SOLAR:
• Officials in Bowling Green, Ohio are considering developing a 20-megawatt solar project on city-owned land. (Toledo Blade)
• A new program by Ameren allows customers to help pay for solar projects. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• Alliant Energy in Wisconsin is set to unveil a solar demonstration project this week. (WMTV)
• A Minnesota county considers a moratorium on new solar farms. (St. Cloud Times)
CLIMATE: In recommending adopting a social cost of carbon in Minnesota, an administrative law judge deals a loss to contrarian climate scientists hired by Peabody Energy. (The Guardian)
OIL & GAS:
• The Bakken oil and gas field is largely responsible for the global uptick in ethane pollution, a new study says. (Associated Press)
• A construction worker dies near St. Louis from a natural gas main explosion. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• Layoffs are making life difficult for energy-sector workers across the Great Plains. (Rapid City Journal)
EFFICIENCY: Xcel Energy plans to install LED streetlights across North Dakota. (Associated Press)
COAL:
• The decline in coal use since its apex in 2007 was “particularly sharp” in the Midwest and Southeast. (ClimateWire)
• Ohio officials are planning to repair a mile-long stretch of roadway that is beginning to sag due to an old underground coal mine. (Columbus Dispatch)
• CEO Robert Murray is “the architect of the most serious challenge to the Obama administration’s environmental goals.” (New York Times)
• The industry downturn has proved lucrative for firms overseeing coal companies’ bankruptcies. (SNL / Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis)
FRAC SAND: A proposal to expand a frac sand mining site in Iowa would not negatively impact public health, according to an expert. (The Gazette)
WASTE-TO-ENERGY: A new gasification plant that runs on wood waste is expected to save an Iowa city $40,000 a year on energy costs. (Sioux City Journal)
PIPELINES: House Republicans pull a provision in proposed pipeline safety legislation that would have made it easier for people affected by spills and leaks to file civil cases. (E&E Daily)
COMMENTARY:
• “As long as fracking is well regulated,” it facilitates an important bridge fuel that burns cleaner than coal. (Akron Beacon Journal)
• FirstEnergy moves its plan to have ratepayers subsidize uncompetitive coal plants to West Virginia. (Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis)
• Michigan needs updated targets for renewable energy and energy efficiency. (Crain’s Detroit Business)
• Unfreeze Ohio’s clean-energy standards. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
• Solar should play an increasingly larger role in Wisconsin’s energy mix. (Wisconsin State Journal)
• Challenges and delays to pipeline projects in Minnesota only serve to stall economic benefits for the state. (Duluth News Tribune)