PIPELINES: President-elect Joe Biden is expected to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline permit early on in his administration. (New York Times)
ALSO:
• Top Canadian officials hope to at least discuss the proposed pipeline with Biden amid reports that it would be canceled. (Associated Press)
• Critics say revoking the Keystone XL permit would be at odds with Biden’s promise to support good-paying union jobs. (E&E News, subscription)
• Ohio becomes the latest state to enact harsher penalties for trespassing on or interfering with energy infrastructure, which critics say is an attempt to chill pipeline protests. (Grist)
SOLAR:
• Some Michigan solar advocates see a potential silver lining for battery storage after regulators reduced compensation rates for Consumers Energy customers sending excess power back to the grid. (Energy News Network)
• Minnesota solar installations slowed in 2020, though experts expect to see growth this year, particularly for large-scale projects. (Star Tribune)
• Public comment is set to open on a proposed 100 MW solar project in southern Ohio. (Times-Gazette)
OHIO: Two northern Ohio villages along Lake Erie remain on edge about the uncertain future of the Perry and Davis-Besse nuclear plants, which provide key local tax revenue. (Associated Press)
CLIMATE:
• Legislation pending in Kansas and Missouri to block cities from banning natural gas could interfere with local clean energy targets, advocates say. (Energy News Network)
• Ann Arbor, Michigan’s 2030 carbon neutrality goal relies in part on the University of Michigan, which accounts for about one-third of the city’s carbon emissions. (MLive)
• Reforestation and cover cropping in Minnesota can be key ways to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report from the Nature Conservancy. (Star Tribune)
EMISSIONS: A highly polluting Ohio coal plant formerly owned by AEP is an example of utilities unloading power plants that continue to emit greenhouse gas emissions under new owners. (E&E News, subscription)
COAL: Some Michigan residents are paying excessive electricity rates through a 10-year-old contract that helps subsidize two 1950s-era coal plants in Ohio and Indiana, clean energy groups say. (Northern Express)
WIND:
• Kansas researchers launch a five-year project that would use local wind power to produce an ammonia that’s used to treat community wastewater. (Wichita Eagle)
• PepsiCo signs an agreement to purchase a portion of the output from a 298 MW wind project in northeastern Nebraska. (Norfolk Daily News)
• Construction is nearly completed on three wind farms in southwestern Missouri and southeastern Kansas. (Joplin Globe)
TRANSPORTATION: Illinois will continue to waive emissions tests until March 1 for drivers renewing their registrations. (CBS Chicago)
OIL & GAS: North Dakota’s oil production is expected to drop this winter, then stabilize and potentially trend upward by the end of 2021. (Bismarck Tribune)
COMMENTARY: A Minnesota economist says burning trash for energy is “not only inefficient, it is harmful in every way that you might imagine,” including releasing carbon dioxide. (MinnPost)