SOLAR: Nearly fives times as much solar development took place in Wisconsin last year compared to 2015 “as utilities, businesses and homeowners responded to falling solar prices.” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

ALSO:
• Missouri’s electric cooperative association is backing proposed legislation that would make net metering less available and more costly across the state’s electric sector. (Midwest Energy News)
• A tiny Iowa town considers building a 1.42-megawatt solar project to supply power to residents, which could save $2 million over 20 years in electric costs. (Sioux City Journal)

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ADVOCACY: The executive director of the Chicago-based Environmental Law & Policy Center is confident that public opinion, state and local politics and economics are on the side of clean energy heading into the Trump administration. (Midwest Energy News)

CLIMATE:
• Ohio’s carbon dioxide emissions dropped 12.9 percent between 2000 and 2014, but the state still ranks near the top for overall CO2 emissions. (Columbus Business First)
• 2016 was the hottest year in 137 years of record keeping, and the third year in a row to take the top slot. (Climate Central)

WIND: A Wisconsin-based wind turbine manufacturer wants to sell more of its products in-state since sector growth has been slow there. (Wisconsin Public Radio)

RATES: Submetering companies in Ohio say they should retain the right to add charges as they see fit for reselling energy. (Columbus Dispatch)

PIPELINES:
• Pressure builds for the decommissioning of Enbridge’s Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• A federal judge will not keep the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from launching a full environmental study of the Dakota Access pipeline. (Associated Press)
• North Dakota utility regulators approve a 3.2-mile crude oil pipeline to connect with Dakota Access. (Forum News Service)
• The number of arrests related to Dakota Access pipeline protests surpasses 600. (Associated Press)

COAL: A federal judge in Michigan allows a lawsuit to move forward against a municipal utility and the role a coal ash storage pond played in increasing costs for a nearby township. (Lansing State Journal)

BIOFUELS: Scott Pruitt, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. EPA, says he would honor the intent of the Renewable Fuel Standard but is open to “tweaking” it. (Reuters)

TRANSPORTATION: Ohio State University receives $1.5 million from the federal government to test ways of reducing emissions from buses. (Columbus Dispatch)

COMMENTARY:
• Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette defends Donald Trump’s pick of Scott Pruitt to lead the U.S. EPA, saying he will restore the “proper balance” between the power of states and the federal government. (Detroit News)
• A proposed $9.3 million waste-to-energy project at a wastewater treatment plant in Iowa looks promising. (Sioux City Journal)
• As businesses and Republican voters continue to voice support for renewable energy, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has not. (Urban Milwaukee)