SOLAR: A Minnesota school district will install solar panels on all of its buildings as a way to cut down on electricity costs. (Farmington Independent)
RESEARCH: A Minnesota House panel recommends against using state lottery money to fund climate change and energy efficiency research projects. (Minnesota Public Radio)
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COAL: Grid operator MISO projects more coal plant closures than originally expected to comply with the Clean Power Plan. (EnergyWire)
ALSO:
• The Obama administration releases nearly $66 million for struggling coal communities to diversify their economies, retrain the workforce and attract new investment. (Reuters)
• Peabody Energy tells the state of Illinois that it has the $92 million to cover the costs of mining cleanup. (Northern Public Radio)
• Communities in Indiana also face uncertainty over coal mining cleanup amid Peabody’s potential bankruptcy. (Public News Service)
• Two cities’ investment in the Prairie State Energy Campus will not be affected by Peabody’s selling its share of the facility. (Kane County Chronicle)
• Springfield, Illinois officials sign a new coal contract with a local utility, though a competitor cries foul that its offer was not taken seriously. (Springfield Journal-Register)
CLEAN POWER PLAN: Legal experts say the federal rules would likely be upheld if Merrick Garland is appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. (EnergyWire)
OIL AND GAS:
• Industry officials in Ohio are optimistic that market conditions will improve in 2017. (Columbus Dispatch)
• In response to numerous accidents in recent years, the federal government moves to strengthen safety rules for the country’s natural gas transmission network. (Associated Press)
• The developer behind the Keystone XL project buys a pipeline company for $10.2 billion, making it a “major force” in distributing U.S. natural gas. (New York Times)
• DTE Energy will invest $1.4 billion in natural gas pipeline infrastructure in Michigan over the next five years. (Utility Dive)
• Officials in North Dakota explore the potential for expanding natural gas infrastructure to towns that don’t have access. (Bismarck Tribune)
• “Keep It In The Ground” protesters organize in Milwaukee against federal oil and gas leases. (Wisconsin Gazette)
INFRASTRUCTURE:
• Kansas regulators disagree over how future rate cases should draw revenue to replace aging energy infrastructure. (Topeka Capital-Journal)
• Kansas regulators also delayed a decision on a utility’s request to raise its transmission tariff by about $4 per month on the average residential bill. (Topeka Capital-Journal)
• Two schools in Flint, Michigan close after an animal causes damage to a power substation. (MLive)
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BIOFUELS: A group of independent refiners asks the U.S. EPA to shift the responsibility of complying with federal biofuel mandates onto blenders. (Platts)
FINANCE: A survey of rural bankers across Midwest and Plains states suggests low energy commodity prices are helping paint a slightly brighter economic picture. (Associated Press)
CORRECTION: An item in Thursday’s digest about a proposed solar moratorium in South Dakota included an incorrect link. Here is the story.