SOLAR: Illinois regulators grant an emergency motion to solar advocates that maintains full net metering credits for Ameren customers while also requiring an audit of the utility’s net metering program. (Utility Dive)
POWER PLANTS:
• A recent change to Wisconsin’s tax law would allow a city to slightly raise property taxes to replace revenue lost from former power plants. (Telegraph Herald)
• Local officials in southern Illinois raise concerns about the budget impacts of a planned coal plant closure in 2025. (WPSD)
***SPONSORED LINK: MnSEIA’s 7th annual Gateway to Solar conference is next week! Join us Oct. 12-13 for a SEIA State Chapter Roundtable, keynotes such as Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minnesota State Legislators, D&I training for energy professionals, and much more.***
PIPELINES:
• Construction is set to begin on a pump station in North Dakota that will help push more oil through the Dakota Access pipeline. (Bismarck Tribune)
• Efforts to shut down Line 5 have waged for years and continue as pipeline owner Enbridge seeks to build a tunnel for it in the Straits of Mackinac. (MLive)
UTILITIES:
• An Ohio judge declines the state attorney general’s request to block FirstEnergy and other defendants named in an alleged bribery scheme from making political donations. (WOSU)
• A startup loan from a Nebraska power cooperative to a political committee backing candidates for the Nebraska Public Power District board raises questions about whether ratepayer money is being used to fund political campaigns. (Lincoln Journal Star)
• Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan begins to offer a more substantive defense against allegations linking him to a $1.3 million bribery case involving ComEd. (Chicago Sun-Times)
• Financial analysts question why Exelon doesn’t decouple its regulated subsidiary utilities from the parent company as other large utilities have done. (Crain’s Chicago Business)
OIL & GAS: The industry downturn resulting from the pandemic may add to the growing cost of cleaning up unplugged oil and gas wells in the U.S. (DeSmog)
EFFICIENCY: A mid-Michigan wastewater treatment facility plans to cut its energy use in half over the next decade with various system upgrades. (Lansing State Journal)
BIOFUELS: Ethanol advocates say the fuel source is here to stay despite lingering uncertainty caused by the oil industry and a collapse in demand. (Forbes)
***SPONSORED LINK: Start Your Day with CGA on October 9! Join us for a conversation with Miranda Ballentine, CEO, REBA, on Delivering a Renewable Energy Future and Transforming the Energy Marketplace for C&I Customers. INDIVIDUAL TICKETS ARE FREE! Click here to Register.***
WIND: Alliant Energy passes the 1,000 MW milestone for wind generation in Iowa. (Renews)
COMMENTARY: Ohio lawmakers’ stalling to repeal a power plant subsidy law is a “brazen defiance of public opinion,” an editorial board says. (Columbus Dispatch)