SOLAR: After a week of uncertainty, a 13-megawatt solar project at Michigan State University is moving forward, though advocates say the project exposed an outdated and patchwork approach to state tax policy for renewables. (Midwest Energy News)
WIND:
• Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon endorses the Grain Belt Express transmission line. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• A local official in eastern Michigan, where a majority of the state’s wind development has taken place, said local governments are “pawns” in an industry run by the federal government. (Huron Daily Tribune)
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CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY: Major corporations in Minnesota form a coalition to promote the sustainability of a “circular economy” that eliminates waste and relies on renewable energy. (Midwest Energy News)
OIL AND GAS:
• North Dakota regulators adopt new rules aimed at reducing pipeline spills by the oil industry. (Associated Press)
• Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania are working together to build an industry around ethane cracker plants. (Pittsburgh Business Times)
COAL:
• A tentative labor agreement between coal companies and miners in Ohio and West Virginia is voted down by the United Mine Workers of America. (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
• In the decade leading up to their bankruptcies, five coal companies spent $95 million on lobbying U.S. lawmakers and another $600 million on top executives’ salaries. (Bloomberg)
EFFICIENCY: An eastern Michigan city is using the money saved from efficiency projects to keep a public pool and a senior center from closing. (MLive)
GRID: An independent monitor says grid operator MISO is not sending “efficient” investment signals. (Platts)
FRAC SAND: A Minnesota county planning commission will begin debating a ban on frac sand mining today, starting a process that could last several months. (Houston County News)
REGULATION: South Dakota Democrats nominate the founder of a solar company that’s based on tribal land to run for a spot on the state’s Public Utilities Commission. (Native Times)
BIOFUELS: The CEO of a former biofuels company in Michigan is indicted after federal prosecutors say he tried to defraud the government out of $2 million in tax credits. (MLive)
FRACKING: Advocates say a fracking ban is needed in Michigan. (WEMU)
UTILITIES: Officials at Wisconsin’s largest utility say customers may not see rate hikes for the next two years. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
COMMENTARY: South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard says renewable energy “will continue to play a crucial role in creating new jobs and growing our economy.” (Hot Springs Star)