MICROGRID: While some longtime residents remain skeptical, local leaders in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood look to build on the community’s legacy of innovation and entrepreneurship as it embarks on a microgrid project. (Midwest Energy News)
SMART METERS: Two advocacy groups and an Illinois utility are working to quantify the emission-reduction benefits of installing smart meters. (Midwest Energy News)
WIND: The North Dakota Senate strips language from a proposed bill that would have placed a two-year moratorium on wind development. (Forum News Service)
NUCLEAR: After plans surface about FirstEnergy seeking subsidies to keep its nuclear plants open, the company says it is still interested in selling them. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
PIPELINES:
• Ten people were arrested when they refused to evacuate a Dakota Access protest camp in North Dakota as others set fire to temporary structures in a final act of defiance. (Minnesota Public Radio)
• Wisconsin again sends 17 State Police officers to to help manage the protests. (Wisconsin State Journal)
• In the hours leading up to the Dakota Access evacuation deadline, North Dakota lawmakers advance a bill aimed at limiting protests. (Forum News Service)
• Four people are arrested for trespassing after “occupying” Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad’s office in protest of the Dakota Access pipeline. (Radio Iowa)
EFFICIENCY: Two lobbying groups representing automakers urge the U.S. EPA to reverse tougher fuel economy standards from the Obama administration. (New York Times)
COAL:
• Grid operator MISO approves Northern Indiana Public Service’s plans to retire two units at its Bailly coal plant by mid-2018. (Platts)
• Under the Trump administration, the U.S. EPA continues to fight a court order requiring the agency to evaluate how the Clean Air Act affects industry job losses. (Greenwire)
UTILITIES:
• Missouri regulators vote to require Great Plains Energy to file an application for approval of its proposed merger with Westar Energy. (Kansas City Business Journal)
• Ohio-based FirstEnergy says it has no near-term plans to sell a coal plant and a nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. (Beaver County Times)
GRID: The board of grid operator PJM authorizes more than $1.5 billion in transmission upgrades to improve reliability across its service territory. (Transmission & Distribution World)
BIOFUELS: President Trump reiterates his support for the U.S. ethanol industry. (Bloomberg)
REGULATION: The chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio looks to “change the dynamic” of the state’s contentious regulatory process. (Columbus Business First)
COMMENTARY: The Union of Concerned Scientists urges Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton to oppose two bills that would “hack away at the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission’s (MPUC) authority to protect consumers.”