SOLAR:
• An Illinois foundation is funding a program that provides teacher training and materials for K-12 students across the state to learn about solar energy. (Midwest Energy News)
• A growing number of farmers across the country are turning to solar generation to help offset costs. (GreenBiz)
COAL:
• The city of Duluth, Minnesota is launching a pilot program to cut coal usage at its downtown steam plant by transitioning to natural gas. (Minnesota Public Radio)
• The Ohio Coal Association is preparing a “laundry list” of action items to revive the industry. (Washington Observer-Reporter)
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FRAC SAND: An influential group of sportsmen in Wisconsin tells state lawmakers they should put a moratorium on new frac sand mines until the environmental impacts are understood. (Associated Press)
WIND: Officials in Columbia, Missouri consider a plan to buy wind energy from Kansas that would be delivered through the controversial Grain Belt Express Clean Line Project. (KMIZ)
PIPELINES: A federal judge rules that certain information about spill risks along points of the Dakota Access pipeline can be shielded from the public, but that spill response information should not be protected. (Associated Press)
REGULATION: Officials in a northeast Ohio county approve a resolution opposing efforts to re-regulate the state’s electric industry in order to protect construction plans for a major natural gas plant in the area. (Warren Tribune Chronicle)
EMISSIONS: Three metropolitan areas in northeast Ohio are among the state’s worst places for air pollution due in part to particulate matter emitted from fossil fuel plants. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
OIL AND GAS: A 675-MW natural gas plant in Wisconsin needs $25 million in upgrades to fix a steam turbine, and it’s not expected to restart until July. (LaCrosse Tribune)
BIOFUELS: After doubling its ethanol output, a southern Michigan plant is now one of the largest ethanol production sites in the country. (Toledo Blade)
RATES: A new report shows wholesale power prices in Ohio continue to clear above $50 per megawatt-hour. (Platts)
COMMENTARY:
• A columnist says large areas of polluted or exploited land in the Illinois Valley should be redeveloped for solar generation. (La Salle News Tribune)
• A Vox energy writer says the time may be right to increase efforts at carbon capture and storage at a variety of energy facilities.