FINANCE: Michigan’s decade-old green bank that’s helped spur private investment in clean energy projects could be a model as the incoming Biden administration considers the financing option on a national scale. (Energy News Network)
CLIMATE: A Wisconsin climate change task force report includes recommendations for clean energy jobs programs and a statewide office of environmental justice to ensure an equitable energy transition. (Wisconsin Public Radio)
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OHIO: A Republican state lawmaker says a law providing subsidies for two nuclear plants at the center of a bribery scandal should be repealed: “The fact is these plants are no longer needed.” (Toledo Blade)
COAL: Nearly all of Indiana’s 15 coal ash storage sites have harmed nearby groundwater while the state lacks coordinated plans to control the problem, according to a Hoosier Environmental Council report. (Indiana Environmental Reporter)
RENEWABLES:
• An Illinois lawmaker warns that the funding cliff has arrived for renewable energy projects that qualify for state incentives and calls for legislators to take policy action. (Southern Illinoisan)
• A local Farm Bureau chapter in Illinois tells residents to not rush into contracts if approached by developers of major wind or solar projects. (WCIA)
PIPELINES:
• Enbridge executives say in an earnings call that the company is building in “additional risk premium” to large pipeline projects that face increasing uncertainty as governments transition to clean energy. (Financial Post)
• The Biden administration could affect the outcome of five major pipeline projects across the U.S. while influencing oil and gas developments. (E&E News, subscription)
UTILITIES: Xcel Energy Chairman and CEO Ben Fowke is named executive of the year by Utility Dive for his push to make the company carbon neutral. (Utility Dive)
WIND: A central Illinois county remains the top wind producer in the state, collecting more than $53 million in property tax payments from projects since 2007. (Bloomington Pantagraph)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: General Motors says the first orders of its all-electric Hummer quickly sold out after the vehicle was unveiled in October, and testing is underway in metro Detroit. (Detroit News)
NUCLEAR: Federal regulators began public meetings this week on the planned ownership transfer of a southwestern Michigan nuclear plant. (Michigan Radio)
POLICY: Tribes in South Dakota, Kansas and Minnesota were among more than a dozen selected across the U.S. for federal grants supporting energy sovereignty. (Tribal Business News)
COMMENTARY: Criminal convictions aren’t enough to settle the investigation into Ohio’s power plant bailout law; what’s needed is a broader effort at “rooting out corruption in state government,” an editorial board says. (Toledo Blade)