UTILITIES: As attention turns to a utility trade group’s role in promoting policies that discourage rooftop solar, critics question whether ratepayers should be footing the bill. (Midwest Energy News)
EMISSIONS: Minnesota regulators will spend the next week deciding how to update the state’s price on carbon dioxide emissions, which will impact what kind of new generation is built into the future. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
NUCLEAR:
• Opponents of Illinois’ subsidies for nuclear generation vow to appeal a recent court decision allowing the policy to move forward. (Crain’s Chicago Business)
• The largest portion of radioactive waste from nuclear generation is being temporarily stored at seven sites across Illinois, making it the “nation’s biggest de facto nuclear waste dump.” (NPR Illinois)
FRAC SAND: The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources agrees to reconsider a permit it issued to a company allowing it to fill wetlands as part of a frac sand development. (LaCrosse Tribune)
PIPELINES:
• A group fighting the Keystone XL pipeline says it will appeal a judge’s ruling upholding a decision by regulators allowing it to move through South Dakota. (Associated Press)
• A panel of industry officials say protests similar to the ones over the Dakota Access pipeline will likely become commonplace. (Associated Press)
• An attorney speaking at a conference in North Dakota encourages pipeline developers to “take tribal consultation more seriously or risk costly project delays.” (Bismarck Tribune)
SOLAR:
• Sunrun, which expanded into Wisconsin earlier this year, marks its 10th year in operation in an industry “known for its ups and downs.” (Midwest Energy News archive, Greentech Media)
• Interest in installing rooftop solar panels is growing among residents of South Bend, Indiana. (WSBT)
GRID: A startup led by researchers in Illinois and Michigan has created a hardware device that allows utilities to better manage the electricity distribution grid. (Chicago Business Journal)
OIL AND GAS: A pipeline leak caused more than 13,000 gallons of saltwater to spill at a North Dakota oil well. (Bismarck Tribune)
RENEWABLES: A program through the U.S. Department of Agriculture offers free site assessments for small businesses in eight Ohio counties interested in installing on-site renewable energy. (Gallipolis Daily Tribune)
COAL: Increasing natural gas prices mean coal will be the top source for U.S. power generation in 2017, according to the latest projections by the Energy Information Administration. (Huntington Herald-Dispatch)
RATES: High temperatures and summer rate structures are leading to “sticker shock” for electric ratepayers in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Lincoln Journal Star)
COMMENTARY: An advocacy group says the key to Minnesota’s success on community solar is that it does not cap the amount of development. (Institute for Local Self-Reliance)