SOLAR: DTE Energy is planning to build a 45-megawatt solar array in southeast Michigan, which the company says would be the largest utility-scale project east of the Mississippi River. (MLive)
BATTERIES: The growth in energy storage deployment in Ohio could bolster the state’s renewables industry. (Midwest Energy News)
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PETCOKE: Instead of stockpiling it along a river near Chicago, BP is now sending its petcoke from a nearby refinery to Kentucky and West Virginia. (Northwest Indiana Times)
OHIO: Grid operator PJM says it will weigh in by the spring on reliability issues affecting wholesale markets under FirstEnergy and AEP “bailout” requests. (RTO Insider)
RENEWABLE TAX CREDITS: Experts say extending federal tax credits for wind and solar should stimulate hundreds of billions of dollars in new investment. (ClimateWire)
FRAC SAND: A Wisconsin researcher says communities should be prepared for the boom and bust cycle that comes with the frac sand mining industry. (Chippewa Herald)
PIPELINES:
• A panel of judges in Michigan uphold the convictions of pipeline protesters who attached themselves to Enbridge machinery. (MLive)
• Enbridge says a Wisconsin county is creating “unpredictability” by maintaining permit language requiring the company to have spill insurance. (Wisconsin State Journal)
CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• Grid operator MISO says the price of natural gas could be the highest variable in the cost to comply with the federal rules. (RTO Insider)
• EPA critics accuse the agency of usurping states’ rights among several other allegations as they prepare to challenge the Clean Power Plan in court. (Greenwire)
TRANSMISSION:
• Farm advocates and a group of landowners ask Illinois regulators to reconsider their approval of a section of a transmission project moving wind energy from Kansas to Indiana through the state. (Associated Press)
• Federal regulators approve rate incentives for the developers of a transmission line from Manitoba to Minnesota to help insulate ratepayers from large bill increases. (RTO Insider)
• Grid operator PJM approves $490 million in grid infrastructure upgrades. (Transmission & Distribution World)
• Xcel Energy in Minnesota makes transmission upgrades meant to protect the region’s wildlife. (CBS Minnesota)
COAL: A Minnesota utility completes a $260 million upgrade to make its largest coal-fired unit burn cleaner. (Prairie Business Magazine)
GRID: An Illinois initiative is helping to establish performance standards for the grid. (Energy Fix)
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COMMENTARY: Shareholder activism is the best new approach to phasing out coal. (Forbes)
CORRECTION: An item in Monday’s digest incorrectly stated where a campaign to ban frac sand mining was launched. It is in Minnesota.