NOTE TO READERS — Recipients of the 2016 Midwest Energy News 40 Under 40 are being announced this week. Representing energy professionals from business, government, academic, and advocacy sectors, congratulations to today’s group of honorees.
FUEL CELLS: An Ohio county recently launched a fleet of hydrogen fuel cell buses, though industry officials say the state’s sector has much deeper roots as well as policy challenges. (Midwest Energy News)
POLICY: Michigan now has more registered lobbyists than state legislators working to pass comprehensive energy policy. (MLive)
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COAL:
• Industrial air pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions are concentrated among a small number of “super polluters,” with the highest concentration found in southwest Indiana, according to new research. (Center for Public Integrity)
• Indiana advocates are pushing to receive federal dollars to reclaim former coal mine sites. (WBOI)
OIL AND GAS:
• Detroit-based DTE Energy says it plans to spend at least $1 billion on new natural gas plants in Michigan to replace shuttered coal plants. (Crain’s Detroit Business)
• A Michigan township says it is unwilling to pay for a shared hazmat response team because it’s too expensive, one month after 65 barrels of crude oil spilled there. (MLive)
SOLAR: A new study analyzes 30 different approaches utilities have taken to plan for the rise of distributed solar. (Utility Dive)
CLEAN POWER PLAN: Opponents’ argument that the federal rules are unachievable “didn’t fare well” this week with federal judges. (ClimateWire)
HYDRO: Researchers say hydroelectric reservoirs account for more than 1 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, releasing methane as submerged organic matter decomposes. (Climate Central)
UTILITIES:
• Ameren Missouri says it is prepared to make $1 billion in infrastructure improvements if the state’s rate-setting process is revised. (St. Louis Business Journal)
• A Springfield, Illinois utility says the state has paid off $19 million in late and current electric bills for state buildings. (Associated Press)
• A sub-metering company in Ohio tells state regulators that public hearings on whether such companies should be regulated would be “unnecessary and counterproductive.” (Columbus Dispatch)
POLITICS: It’s unclear what Hillary Clinton’s plan to close the “Halliburton loophole” in hydraulic fracturing would actually mean or how it would pass Congress. (EnergyWire)
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SMART METERS: Kansas regulators say two utilities’ use of smart meters does not appear to present any more danger to ratepayers than previous analog meters did. (Topeka Capital-Journal)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Tesla executive says states that don’t allow the company to sell vehicles directly to customers — such as Michigan — are a “very poor candidate for manufacturing operations in the long term.” (MLive)