UTILITIES: Consumers Energy announces plans to retire its remaining coal-fired power plants by 2025 and replace them with clean energy and the purchase of four existing natural gas plants. (Detroit News)
POLICY: Minnesota’s new energy conservation law is expected to boost adoption of air source heat pumps as an alternative to propane and other fuel sources for heating. (Energy News Network)
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PIPELINES:
• Enbridge says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ call for a full environmental impact assessment of the planned Line 5 tunnel would delay the project. (Reuters)
• Minnesota officials issue an amended permit for Enbridge to pump significantly more groundwater out of the Line 3 pipeline construction area. (MPR News)
COAL:
• Utility officials discover additional toxic chemicals at the site of a former coal plant in western Michigan. (MLive)
• Vistra Energy agrees to clean up pits of water-soaked coal ash along the Vermilion River as part of a deal with the Illinois attorney general’s office. (Journal Gazette and Times-Courier)
EFFICIENCY: An Ohio company raises $22 million from an investment fund backed by Bill Gates to improve energy efficiency in homes. (Bloomberg)
NUCLEAR: Critics of the planned extension of a Wisconsin nuclear power plant’s operating license seek a more thorough federal safety review. (WUWM)
SOLAR:
• Amazon announces plans to invest in 11 U.S. solar projects, including a 50 MW project in northwestern Ohio. (Farm and Dairy)
• A Kansas electric cooperative announces the completion of two 1 MW solar projects. (Salina Journal)
• Local officials break ground on a 15-acre solar plus storage project in northern Minnesota. (LPTV)
OIL & GAS: Despite repeated citations, Ohio officials have yet to take formal enforcement action against a facility that handles hydraulic fracturing waste. (Columbus Dispatch)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Kansas City pilot program seeks to integrate electric vehicle charging technology with the city’s streetlight system to provide public charging. (Centered)
POWER PLANTS: CenterPoint Energy’s plan to displace retiring coal plants with natural gas generation would cost average residential customers $23 a month, utility officials tell regulators. (Evansville Courier & Press)
WIND: County officials in northwestern Iowa begin working on new zoning regulations for utility-scale wind projects. (Sioux City Journal)
RENEWABLES: Michigan’s first community college enrolls in DTE Energy’s voluntary renewable energy program. (ClickOnDetroit)