FRACKING: A federal forecast predicts increased natural gas production will make the U.S. a net energy exporter by 2026. (Reuters)
GRID:
• A 76-year-old power plant at an Illinois university is under consideration for a carbon capture project, highlighting the challenge of adapting aging infrastructure to modern climate initiatives. (Midwest Energy News)
• The Southwest Power Pool seeks permission to sell electricity into Canada. (Utility Dive)
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NUCLEAR:
• Federal regulators are expected to announce next week plants in the U.S. that contain components made by a troubled French company, which advocates say could pose a safety risk. (Reuters)
• A reporter says the proposed Lake Huron nuclear waste facility is the most divisive issue she’s covered: “You are either all in or all against.” (Radio Michigan)
POLITICS: Koch Industries courts minority communities to help advance its push for fossil fuels. (New York Times)
MICHIGAN: Education leaders praise new Michigan energy legislation for preserving the state’s electric choice program. (MLive)
WIND: Petition drives in Michigan target zoning decisions and other policy changes that would support wind development. (Huron Daily Tribune)
SOLAR: A Cincinnati official says city incentives led to a 33 percent increase in residential solar systems last year. (WVXU)
COAL: A sharp decline in coal shipments is complicating contract talks for unionized railroad workers. (Omaha World-Herald)
FRAC SAND: Opponents fight a Wisconsin sand mining project that would eliminate 17 acres of wetlands. (Urban Milwaukee/Wisconsin Democracy Campaign)
BIOFUELS: Senators from Iowa and Nebraska say they had a “very positive meeting” with Trump EPA nominee Scott Pruitt, who has been a critic of the Renewable Fuels Standard. (Omaha World-Herald)
PIPELINES:
• Following his nomination for energy secretary, former Texas governor Rick Perry resigns from the board of Energy Transfer Partners – the company building the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline. (Texas Tribune)
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will continue to include oil pipelines in its streamlined permitting program, dealing a blow to environmentalists and opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline. (Platts)
OIL: A worker is killed in a fire at a well site in North Dakota. (Bismarck Tribune)
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EFFICIENCY: PACE loans continue to encourage energy efficiency projects in Michigan. (Michigan Radio)
COMMENTARY:
• Why Wisconsin can’t afford to ignore climate change. (Coulee News)
• A faith leader says continued use of coal is not only bad economics, it is “ethically deficient.” (Journal Gazette)
• President-elect Trump may provide new hope for nuclear energy. (Sioux Falls Argus Leader)