SOLAR:
• One Minnesota town embraces community solar primarily as a way to save money on electricity. (Midwest Energy News)
• A company is opening a new headquarters in southeast Michigan where it will manufacture solar packages for rooftop installations. (MLive)
• Minnesota’s largest solar array started generating power this week at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
WIND: State regulators approve a 150-megawatt project in northwest North Dakota, the first in the oil-rich portion of the state. (Oil Patch Dispatch)
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CLIMATE CHANGE:
• Local officials in St. Paul, Minnesota commit to reducing the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. (Pioneer Press)
• Officials abroad say Congress’ vote to undermine a domestic carbon-reduction plan isn’t gaining traction in Paris. (Greenwire)
• Michigan State University joins a long list of schools committing to a White House climate pledge that includes reducing emissions 45 percent by 2020. (MSU Today)
CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• President Obama says in Paris that he favors a carbon tax over regulations like the Clean Power Plan to reduce emissions. (ClimateWire)
• While partisan politics cloud the direction of the Clean Power Plan, engineers see the rules as an opportunity to reinvent the power grid. (EnergyWire)
• A White House official says Michigan has an opportunity to comply with the Clean Power Plan by expanding wind generation in rural areas. (WNEM-TV)
OIL AND GAS:
• Officials consider turning a vacant “man camp” for oil patch workers in North Dakota into a new mixed-use residential community. (Bismarck Tribune)
• A bill that would lift the crude oil export ban and speed up pipeline permitting moves forward in Congress. (E&E Daily)
MICHIGAN: As an energy policy overhaul is pushed into next year, major utilities are still stressing the urgency of a new plan. (MLive)
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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: One reason electric-car ownership hasn’t taken off is because car dealers are reluctant to sell them. (New York Times)
COMMENTARY:
• ALEC-inspired legislation in Ohio could undermine the state’s ability to draft a carbon reduction plan. (NRDC Switchboard)
• How to convene multiple organizations onto a path toward clean energy and promote broader change within the sector. (Midwest Energy News)
• The EPA’s new biofuel targets will have negative consequences for the renewable fuels industry. (Sioux City Journal)
• The Toledo Blade says FirstEnergy’s income-guarantee proposal is a “sweetheart deal” for the utility and a “raw deal” for ratepayers and the environment.