GRID: “Smart-switching” technology developed by a Chicago-based company in 2006 has proven to be a key component to making the grid smarter, cleaner and more reliable. (Midwest Energy News)
WIND: Developers hope Ohio lawmakers will return to old property setbacks for wind turbines that are more accommodating and may help bring new projects to the state. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
***SPONSORED LINK: Join the Midwest Energy Research Consortium (M-WERC) at the Energy Storage Conference, February 15 in Milwaukee. This conference will explore recent advances in energy storage technologies, as well as the applications and in-field examples of the role of energy storage. ***
PIPELINES:
• The Dakota Access pipeline developer and other industry executives have gone silent this week after President Trump threw his support behind building the project, likely to avoid scrutiny from activists, analysts say. (DeSmog Blog, Bloomberg)
• The chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux requests a meeting with Trump and hopes he will reconsider his push to complete the Dakota Access project. (Associated Press)
• North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signs his first bill into law, which borrows $8 million to help pay for the Dakota Access pipeline protest response. (KFGO)
• Tribal leaders brief Burgum on their efforts to clear out a Dakota Access protest camp. (Associated Press)
• TransCanada submits a new permit application for the Keystone XL pipeline. (NPR)
• Energy markets are “starkly different” than they were eight years ago when the Obama administration first considered the Keystone XL project. (New York Times)
SOLAR:
• The number of Democratic and Republican homeowners who install solar is nearly equal. (Grist)
• A Minnesota county allows for more areas to be open for solar development. (Northfield News)
• Local officials move forward with a plan for a 15-acre solar project at an industrial site in Michigan. (Sturgis Journal)
COAL:
• Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio is co-sponsoring a bill to expand retraining opportunities for dislocated coal miners. (Williamson Daily News)
• Peabody Energy defends its bankruptcy plan in court from critical regulators, shareholders, activists and even former executives. (Reuters)
OIL AND GAS:
• Some Midwest tribes are making a renewed push to streamline drilling and mining regulations in order to “tap the vast wealth beneath their homelands.” (Reuters)
• Advocates in Ohio are concerned that drilling activity could jeopardize the safety of a nearby dam. (Youngstown Vindicator)
CLIMATE: Dismantling President Obama’s climate regulations “will take legal acumen and a lot of time – perhaps longer than a single presidential term.” (New York Times)
UTILITIES:
• The CEO of Ohio-based American Electric Power is “very much looking forward” to working with the Trump administration on infrastructure and energy plans. (Columbus Dispatch)
• AEP also says it wants to take a “surgical” approach to policy changes in Ohio, focusing on building more natural gas and renewables and avoiding subsidies for its coal plants. (Columbus Business First)
COMMENTARY:
• There are still good reasons to oppose the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline projects. (Los Angeles Times)
• Keeping an aging Indiana coal plant online would be uneconomic and negatively impact ratepayers. (Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis)
• Republican governors in Michigan, Illinois and Ohio recognize the economic benefits of clean energy. (Environmental Defense Fund)
• Indiana lawmakers should resist the urge to tie solar developers’ hands with a proposal that would eliminate net metering. (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette)