PIPELINES: Top Michigan officials say Enbridge is now violating the terms of a decades-old easement because its pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac doesn’t have sufficient supporting structures underwater. (Detroit Free Press)
ALSO:
• The future of the proposed Sandpiper oil pipeline through Minnesota is unclear after Enbridge buys a stake in the Bakken Pipeline System. (Minnesota Public Radio, Associated Press)
• A pipeline opposition group in Iowa says it does not condone the recent suspected arson of pipeline equipment there. (Radio Iowa)
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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: EV adoption is strong in Kansas City, where there has been a concerted effort to build out charging infrastructure. (ClimateWire)
RESEARCH:
• Xcel Energy awards the Minnesota Energy Center $5.5 million to go toward research and workforce training focused on renewable energy. (Midwest Energy News)
• Researchers at Michigan State University show how bacteria grow as films on electrodes and generate electricity — “a process that’s ready to be scaled up to industrial levels.” (MSU Today)
UTILITIES: The U.S. Department of Justice opens an investigation and requests documents related to the $12.2 billion merger between Westar Energy and Great Plains Energy. (Topeka Capital-Journal)
WIND: Wisconsin manufacturers are gearing up for a boost in activity as major wind projects begin construction in other states. (Wisconsin Public Radio)
CLEAN ENERGY: The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects carbon-free energy sources will make up 45 percent of North America’s generating mix by 2025. (Utility Dive)
NUCLEAR:
• The “polarizing debate” over helping struggling nuclear plants stay open moves back to Illinois after a supporting vote in New York. (EnergyWire)
• The fate of Exelon’s money-losing nuclear plants in New York and Illinois “may have come down to one governor who desperately wanted to rescue them and another who wasn’t so sure.” (Bloomberg)
• Exelon says it intends to offer workers at its Illinois nuclear plants other jobs within the company should those plants close. (Crain’s Chicago Business)
OIL AND GAS: Environmental groups line up to defend the Obama administration’s rules on methane emissions from oil and gas after states and trade groups seek to unravel the new standards. (EnergyWire)
SOLAR: A Wisconsin city will study the viability of adding solar panels to 10 municipal buildings. (Daily Jefferson County Union)
CLIMATE:
• States that have joined together to investigate Exxon Mobil’s climate change activities signed a pact in May to keep their work confidential and allow them to probe other fossil fuel companies. (Reuters)
• A new survey by researchers in Michigan and Pennsylvania says Donald Trump’s rise may be causing more Republicans to be unsure about the evidence of climate change. (MLive)
COAL:
• Inside the “engineering and economic” woes of operating the Sammis coal plant in Ohio amid low wholesale prices. (Bloomberg)
• A coal executive says companies will have to get used to it being a variable source of energy, rather than base load, “and demand will vary with the price of gas and weather, and that’s just the way it’s going to be.” (SNL / Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis)
• FirstEnergy completes the demolition of one of its Ohio coal plants, hoping to use the site for a future ethane cracker plant. (Daily Energy Insider)
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TRANSPORTATION: Major auto trade associations want federal regulators to reconsider plans to more than double fines for failing to meet fuel efficiency requirements. (Reuters)
COMMENTARY:
• One year after the Clean Power Plan is announced, Ohio remains “ground zero” for challenges to the clean energy shift. (Natural Resources Defense Council)
• Indiana Michigan Power says it is committed to transitioning to cleaner energy, but that it should happen gradually. (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette)