RENEWABLES:
• AEP is taking bids on projects to generate 100 megawatts of solar and 250 MW of wind in Ohio, with site preference in Appalachia. (Columbus Business First)
• Officials in Madison, Wisconsin are scheduled to vote today on a plan to transition the city’s operations to 100 percent renewable energy. (Wisconsin State Journal)
MICROGRIDS: Despite microgrid funding being removed from a major energy bill in Illinois, ComEd plans to develop more projects by seeking approval from state regulators. (Midwest Energy News)
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NUCLEAR:
• Deciding on whether to allow for nuclear waste storage near Lake Huron in Ontario will likely be a major policy decision in 2017. (Toledo Blade)
• Federal regulators grant a 20-year operating license extension to DTE Energy’s Fermi 2 nuclear plant in southeast Michigan. (Toledo Blade)
TRANSPORTATION: Michigan officials respond to a federal lawsuit, saying a bill passed in 2014 blocking direct sales of vehicles in the state is not an “anti-Tesla” bill, as the company claims. (MLive)
FRACKING: Some residents in southern Illinois say they are concerned about the impact on drinking water from nearby fracking operations. (Southern Illinoisan)
COAL:
• An Indiana utility receives approval to close a 600-megawatt coal plant along the shores of Lake Michigan in May 2018. (The Times of Northwest Indiana)
• The number of advanced black lung cases in Appalachia, including parts of Ohio, is surging. (NPR)
• A group of U.S. senators, including Sherrod Brown of Ohio, will continue working on legislation that would bring economic revitalization and land reclamation to areas negatively affected by coal mining. (Weirton Daily Times)
• Murray Energy CEO Robert Murray tells President-elect Donald Trump to “temper his expectations” about bringing back coal jobs. (CNN)
PIPELINES:
• More than three years later, a major pipeline spill in North Dakota still hasn’t been fully cleaned up. (Associated Press)
• About one thousand pipeline protesters remain at Standing Rock, and plan to stay there through the winter. (Reuters)
• Reopening a bridge at the main Dakota Access encampment will be key to restoring relations between tribal members and law enforcement. (Associated Press)
• Wisconsin police officers who responded to the Dakota Access pipeline protests make a variety of operational recommendations based on their experience there. (Wisconsin State Journal)
WIND: Plans for a 60-turbine wind farm in rural mid-Michigan is dividing residents over the costs and benefits of the project. (MLive)
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POLICY: Michigan business groups were able to find common ground over new energy legislation passed last week after disagreement over the bills’ potential impacts on rates. (MiBiz)
COMMENTARY:
• Under a Trump administration, Minnesota could take a prominent role “as an energy example for the rest of the country.” (MinnPost)
• Now that Michigan lawmakers have agreed on an energy policy, “the state can get on with the important work of securing reliable and affordable energy.” (Detroit News)
• Indiana is part of the wave of new, local jobs resulting from transitioning to more clean energy. (Inside Indiana Business)