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COAL: Xcel Energy says it will retire two units at a large coal plant in Minnesota as part of a broader plan to cut carbon emissions 60 percent by 2030. Environmental groups praised the decision. (Midwest Energy News, Minnesota Public Radio)
OHIO:
• Despite being required by law to consider the costs and benefits of the state’s clean-energy standards, a legislative committee’s report made no mention of the latter. (Midwest Energy News)
• Local officials join Gov. John Kasich in support of resuming the state’s clean-energy standards. (WLIO-TV)
• The Republican chairman of the committee says he would have been open to working with Kasich on the issue. (Columbus Business First)
***SPONSORED LINK: Hear top executives from the area’s RTOs, utilities, transmission developers, and state regulatory agencies discuss and debate critical issues at EUCI’s Transmission Expansion in the Midwest conference November 9-10 in Indianapolis.***
WISCONSIN: Gov. Scott Walker is expected to sign a new law meant to ease the transition for communities where power plants close. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
SOLAR:
• Consumers Energy breaks ground on its first community solar project in Michigan. (MLive)
• SolarCity will start to manufacture higher-efficiency panels that would get more electricity out of the same square footage. (New York Times)
PIPELINE: Minnesota regulators hold off on issuing a key permit for the 600-mile Sandpiper project amid ongoing court challenges. (Pioneer Press)
POLLUTION: The U.S. EPA defends its new ozone pollution standard as environmental and public-health advocates say they will likely challenge the rule in court. (Greenwire)
CLEAN POWER PLAN: Kansas will work on a compliance strategy as lawmakers and state officials try to overturn the rule. (Wichita Eagle)
WIND:
• Opponents organize against a planned 103-megawatt project in South Dakota. (Rapid City Journal)
• Officials say a 502-megawatt project in Iowa will be completed by the end of the year. (KCCI-TV)
FRAC SAND: The industry’s downturn is leaving Wisconsin and Minnesota towns with an uncertain future. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
OIL AND GAS:
• Conservation groups are discussing internally their position on lifting the crude oil export ban if it would lead to better protections for public lands. (E&E Daily)
• A malfunction with a gas line causes strong odors and buildings to be evacuated in Iowa. (WHO-TV)
• A South Dakota company looks to become its own natural gas supplier, saying it would stabilize prices and save customers money in the long run. (Lincoln Journal Star)
• The industry pushes back on a study that pegs the value of flared natural gas in the tens of millions of dollars. (InsideClimate News)
GRID: A U.S. House committee approves a bill with bipartisan support to update the country’s grid infrastructure. (Utility Dive)
NUCLEAR: A suspicious-looking package outside of a Nebraska nuclear plant was a testing device and did not include explosives. (Lincoln Journal Star)
CHARITY: Missouri-based Ameren pledges $2.5 million to support mostly low-income African-American communities around St. Louis. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
COMMENTARY:
• Because of strong clean-energy policies already in place, Minnesota is well positioned to comply with the Clean Power Plan. (Midwest Energy News)
• An Ohio utility’s decision to offload retirees’ pension obligations will put nearly 2,000 former employees at risk. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
• North Dakota is adjusting to changes in the oil industry as prices have dropped. (Bismarck Tribune)
• A state commission “did the right thing” in extending a deadline to meet stronger flaring rules in North Dakota. (Bismarck Tribune)