COAL: Blaming low capacity prices, Dynegy threatens to shut down more than 2,000 MW of coal capacity in downstate Illinois. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
ALSO:
• A new report concludes coal companies will not be able to meet their growing environmental and financial liabilities. (Platts)
• A U.S. Interior Department official visits a North Dakota coal mine to examine first-hand the impacts of proposed stream protection rules. (Bismarck Tribune)
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OHIO: American Electric Power scales back its request for income guarantees for struggling power plants, but remains committed to pursuing 900 MW of new renewable energy. (Columbus Dispatch, Columbus Business First)
CLEAN POWER PLAN: New polls find strong public support for the Clean Power Plan in three Midwest states where attorneys general are fighting it. (Midwest Energy News)
EFFICIENCY: An Illinois real-time pricing program is saving utility customers millions, according to the nonprofit operating the program. (Midwest Energy News)
PIPELINES:
• Enbridge filings reveal negotiations with the EPA over a fine for the 2010 Kalamazoo River spill may be coming to a resolution. (InsideClimate News)
• Iowa regulators won’t fine developers of the Dakota Access pipeline for starting construction without notifying inspectors. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
• Rosebud Sioux leaders say their concerns about the Keystone pipeline aren’t being heard. (Fusion)
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it’s still reviewing the Dakota Access pipeline. (Des Moines Register)
OIL:
• Community leaders in North Dakota’s oil patch try to maintain their optimism. (Grand Forks Herald)
• A North Dakota town seeks to diversify its economy amid the oil downturn. (Dickinson Press)
SOLAR:
• Efforts to promote community solar in Illinois continue to face opposition from ComEd. (Crain’s Chicago Business)
• Officials in an Ohio town approve a proposed 20 MW solar project. (Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune)
• A Minnesota county rejects a proposed moratorium on new solar projects. (St. Cloud Times)
• Community solar projects in Wisconsin are moving forward despite low initial interest. (La Crosse Tribune)
• A church in a small Minnesota town installs solar panels, in part to help attract younger parishioners. (Grand Forks Herald)
TRANSMISSION: A University of Minnesota report identifies the CapX2020 project as a model for regional utility planning. (Minnesota Daily)
COMMENTARY:
• Ohio failed to protect consumers, so FERC had to come to the rescue. (The Energy Collective)
• “The burden is on North Dakota” to prove it can effectively regulate its oil industry. (Bismarck Tribune)