GRID:
• As 1.5 gigawatts of capacity were retired in MISO’s footprint last year due largely to coal plant closures, that was matched with a 1.4 gigawatt drop in demand. (EnergyWire)
• Experts discuss at a PJM meeting how distributed generation can be integrated with the grid. (RTO Insider)

FINANCE: A Minnesota firm sees success in helping local governments attract financing to pay for clean energy projects. (Midwest Energy News)

***SPONSORED LINK: The Michigan Energy Fair announces two new partners: The Sustainable Living Summit 2016 and The Great Lakes Emergency Preparedness Expo, June 24-25, Ingham County Fairgrounds, Mason, Michigan. For complete information go to www.glrea.org ***

SOLAR: A Wisconsin coffee-roasting company looks to meet all of its energy needs through solar. (WXOW)

TRANSMISSION:
• A $2.1 billion, 800-mile high-voltage transmission project being built out across the Midwest can be a model for the transition to a clean energy mix. (Utility Dive)
• A Nebraska utility wants to fast-track a $17.7 million transmission project to improve reliability where electric demand is growing. (Lincoln Journal Star)

COAL: A St. Louis-based mining company reaches an agreement with bondholders as it moves through bankruptcy. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

BIOFUELS: Officials in Lincoln, Nebraska look to power the city’s buses with compressed natural gas produced from waste from toilets and sinks around town. (Lincoln Journal Star)

NUCLEAR:
• Roughly 2,000 people are expected to rally today in Springfield, Illinois to urge lawmakers to pass a bill supporting Exelon’s nuclear plants. (Quad-City Times)
• 
U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz says the industry will have a revival within 15 years. (Environmental and Energy Management News)

WIND:
• Wisconsin college students design a wind turbine to power cell phone towers in India. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
A time-lapse video of the tallest land-based wind tower in the U.S. being built in Iowa. (KCCI-TV)

CAPACITY AUCTION: Officials express concern as grid operator MISO redesigns its capacity auction rules. (RTO Insider)

CONGRESS:
• U.S. Senate aides give a behind-the-scenes look at what it took to craft the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016. (RTO Insider)
Controversial measures are added to the legislation before differences are reconciled in the House and Senate versions. (E&E Daily)

OIL AND GAS:
• Documents show the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission — which “often behaves like an unregistered lobbying node for the oil and gas industry” — helped push a regulatory exemption for the industry involving industrial waste handling. (DeSmog Blog)
• For the fourth year in a row, the U.S. leads the world in oil and gas production. (Climate Central)

RESEARCH: Invenergy CEO Michael Polsky donates $50 million for an entrepreneur research center at the University of Chicago. (Crain’s Chicago Business)

COMMENTARY:
• Getting the new energy “ecosystem” to work “will be a major hurdle going forward.” (Transmission & Distribution World)
Renewable energy standards would continue to grow Michigan’s manufacturing sector. (Lansing State Journal)

Andy compiles the Midwest Energy News digest and was a journalism fellow for Midwest Energy News from 2014-2020. He is managing editor of MiBiz in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and was formerly a reporter and editor at City Pulse, Lansing’s alternative newsweekly.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.