UTILITIES: As Wisconsin utilities look to increase fixed customer charges, regulators in other states have balked at such proposals. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

FRACKING: The Ohio Supreme Court rejects efforts to put anti-fracking initiatives on November ballots, siding with election officials who said the plans didn’t provide enough guidance on how local permitting would work. (EnergyWire)

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ADVOCACY:
• A new ratepayer advocacy group forms in Minnesota and begins by fighting a utility’s proposed plan that increases rates for residents and decreases rates for industry. (Midwest Energy News)
• A Wisconsin clean energy group is recognized nationally for its work fighting utility rate plans. (Wisconsin State Journal)

PIPELINES:
• A northern Michigan tribe seeks to halt a multi-million-dollar settlement between Enbridge and the U.S. EPA over the company’s 2010 Michigan oil spill and is using similar arguments made by a Sioux tribe to block Dakota Access construction. (Inside Climate News)
• Dakota Access pipeline opponents in Iowa submit petitions with 33,000 signatures to the Obama administration hoping to block the project from moving forward. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
• More than 30 Dakota Access protesters have been arrested in North Dakota in the last two days. (Associated Press)
• A North Dakota landowner claims victory over the developers of the now-abandoned Sandpiper Pipeline. (Forum News Service)

WIND: The developer of a proposed transmission line to move wind energy from Iowa to Illinois is appealing to the Illinois Supreme Court to allow the project to move forward. (Quad-City Times)

SOLAR: A Wisconsin town moves forward with developing a solar project meant to lower the city’s electricity costs. (Washburn County Register / Inter-County Leader)

EMISSIONS: Low natural gas prices, federal tax breaks for renewables and the falling cost of wind and solar are the primary drivers of lower carbon emissions, experts say. (EnergyWire)

NUCLEAR: Nearly 30 years after it stopped generating electricity, a Wisconsin nuclear plant is entering the final stretch of decommissioning. (LaCrosse Tribune)

STORAGE: Three Midwest research projects are selected to receive millions of dollars in funding from the federal government to advance storage and fuel cell products. (Transmission & Distribution World)

POLITICS: A Republican mega-donor tries to abate attacks about the GOP’s ties to the fossil fuel industry by embracing clean energy and nuclear. (E&E Daily)

FINANCE: Another Minnesota county approves Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing for businesses to invest in efficiency and renewable energy. (Winona Daily News)

CLIMATE:
• Secretary of State John Kerry says he is “more and more confident” that the Paris climate agreement will come into force by the end of the year. (Washington Post)
• The head of a coal company appeals to industry leaders to drop attacks on climate science and focus on reducing emissions from the energy source. (SNL)
• A new poll says, on average, Americans appear willing to pay more than a robust climate policy is projected to cost. (New York Times)
• A coalition of 25 military and national security experts say climate change poses a “significant risk to US national security and international security.” (The Guardian)

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BIOFUELS: Ethanol is shipped by rail in greater quantities than crude oil yet has seen fewer accidents. (DeSmog)

COMMENTARY:
• The rapid expansion of clean energy shows that Clean Power Plan targets are “eminently achievable.” (Environmental Defense Fund)
Investing in renewable energy will “further drive Wisconsin jobs and economic development.” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Andy compiles the Midwest Energy News digest and was a journalism fellow for Midwest Energy News from 2014-2020. He is managing editor of MiBiz in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and was formerly a reporter and editor at City Pulse, Lansing’s alternative newsweekly.

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