EMISSIONS: Minnesota utility regulators vote 3-2 to significantly increase the social cost of carbon emissions from power plants — a figure used in planning decisions — to $9.05 to $43.06 per short ton by 2020. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
STORAGE:
• Minnesota’s largest retail electric cooperative is in negotiations to build a 20-megawatt capacity storage project, which would be the largest in the state. (Midwest Energy News)
• Stakeholders say grid operator MISO should begin considering the value of energy storage so those resources can participate in wholesale markets. (RTO Insider)
WIND:
• Ohio lawmakers expect to revisit the contentious topic of wind turbine setbacks in the legislature this fall. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
• Ohio-based AEP needs approval from four state regulatory agencies to move forward with a 2,000-megawatt wind project in Oklahoma, which it hopes to receive by early 2018. (Columbus Business First)
CLIMATE:
• Minneapolis is one of several major cities to post climate change information online that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has removed from its website. (WCCO)
• Two highly populated counties in Wisconsin and Illinois collaborate on plans to continue reducing carbon emissions. (Badger-Herald)
UTILITIES: “Growth-starved utilities” are shifting away from power purchase agreements for wind and solar projects and are increasingly looking to own projects outright. (Bloomberg)
SOLAR:
• Xcel Energy has canceled a contract with a developer after community solar projects in Wisconsin have been slow to take off. (LaCrosse Tribune)
• Iowa lawmakers tour a solar installation to educate themselves about the energy resource in their state. (Sioux City Journal)
OIL AND GAS:
• The number of spills and other incidents at oil and gas sites fell 17 percent last year, in line with decreased drilling. (E&E News)
• Pipeline workers, who feel their work is misunderstood, say they are speaking up in favor of projects more as opposition grows. (NPR)
NUCLEAR: The decommissioning process of a southwest Michigan nuclear plant could take up to 60 years, according to federal regulators. (MLive)
COMMENTARY: A Forbes columnist says the “great leveling-off has begun” for U.S. shale drilling.