SOLAR: Due to a spike in small-scale solar installations last year, an Upper Peninsula utility recently became the first in Michigan to reach its net metering cap. (Midwest Energy News)
ALSO:
• A national guidebook being developed to help state regulators settle differences between utilities and solar advocates over pricing “masks persisting disagreements between the two camps.” (Utility Dive)
• An Indiana solar company sees the benefit of a nationwide initiative to bring down the costs of solar. (Inside Indiana Business)
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UTILITIES: The CEO of AEP in Ohio says simply selling the utility’s unprofitable plants is “not the right thing to do,” and he will first pursue a restructuring of the state’s electric market. (Columbus Business First)
TRANSPORTATION: Electric vehicles are increasingly being considered as a way to boost renewable energy integration into the grid. (ClimateWire)
WIND: A Nebraska city is taking the first steps toward building its first wind project. (Beatrice Daily Sun)
OIL AND GAS:
• Fewer shipments from the Midwest to the East Coast are driving an overall decline in oil shipments by rail. (Energy Collective)
• The president and CEO of Peoples Gas in Chicago inherited a multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline infrastructure project plagued by cost overruns and delays. (Chicago Tribune)
COAL:
• Peabody Energy is asking a bankruptcy judge to let it pay up to $12 million in bonuses to the company’s top executives. (Dow Jones Newswires)
• An Illinois Senate candidate supports the coal industry’s rebound as part of his campaign platform. (SW Illinois News)
• A North Dakota program fills abandoned coal mines in an effort to prevent dangerous sinkholes from forming. (Bismarck Tribune)
***SPONSORED LINK: Now Extended: Midwest Energy News will be accepting nominations for 40 under 40 until Tuesday, August 9th at noon. Nominate today! ***
WASTE-TO-ENERGY: A southern Indiana cement plant is battling local officials over zoning issues as the company seeks to burn hazardous waste for fuel. (Louisville Courier-Journal)
COMMENTARY:
• The CEO of the American Wind Energy Association says Donald Trump is wrong when he says wind power “kills all your birds.” (Des Moines Register)
• Hundreds rally in Chicago in support of the Clean Energy Incentive Program, a voluntary initiative to spur rapid deployment of clean energy. (Union of Concerned Scientists)