OHIO: As part of a deal with the state’s attorney general, FirstEnergy agrees to forgo $102 million in income under a decoupling mechanism in the state’s power plant subsidy law that had guaranteed the utility’s revenue regardless of a downturn in electricity demand. (Toledo Blade, Energy News Network archives)
BIOMASS: Western Minnesota businesses seek to recoup lost investments after they were encouraged to support a biomass plant that was shutdown more than a decade earlier than expected. (Star Tribune)
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WIND:
• Two Indiana wind projects totaling 502 MW of capacity are now operational and are the first two to be completed under utility NIPSCO’s long term clean energy plan. (Times of Northwest Indiana)
• MidAmerican Energy files a lawsuit against an Iowa county’s “de facto ban” on wind energy after adopting strict regulations on new development. (Des Moines Register)
GRID:
• Southwest Power Pool expands its wholesale energy market, bringing real-time energy balancing trading to eight utilities and transmission authorities, including in South Dakota and Nebraska. (Greentech Media)
• Iowa lawmakers consider a bill that would give utilities more authority to trim trees and other vegetation around power lines. (Radio Iowa)
COAL:
• Environmental groups raise concerns about toxic pollution after a former coal plant is demolished in southwestern Illinois. (KBIA)
• Replacing coal-fired generation with clean energy in states like Indiana will likely coincide with declining wholesale power prices, experts say. (S&P Global)
PIPELINES: The Line 3 replacement project has brought a sense of urgency to longstanding issues around Native American relations, struggling rural economies and the long term consequences of oil reliance. (Minnesota Reformer)
NUCLEAR: Local officials in northern Illinois seek to work with state lawmakers to keep open an Exelon nuclear plant there. (WIFR)
SOLAR: Local officials provide more details about a proposed 1.5 MW solar project at a former northeastern Indiana industrial site. (News Sun)
TRANSPORTATION: North Dakota lawmakers consider raising the state’s fuel taxes to pay for improvements for roads and bridges. (Bismarck Tribune)
CLEAN ENERGY: A Wisconsin county board delays action on the creation of a clean energy commission after disagreement over defining fossil fuels as “dirty energy.” (Press Times)
OIL & GAS: An equipment failure causes 2,100 gallons of oil and 12,600 gallons of produced water to spill at a North Dakota well site. (Associated Press)
COMMENTARY: Clean energy-powered community microgrids must be deployed more rapidly to avoid power outages that can disrupt critical services, advocates say. (Energy News Network)