SOLAR:
• Advocates in Detroit are confronting policy roadblocks as they seek to improve clean energy access for residents through community solar projects. (Midwest Energy News)
• A Detroit-based group looks to turn unused shipping containers into solar-powered community greenhouses. (MLive)
EFFICIENCY:
• A $12 million energy efficiency project in downtown St. Paul is nearing completion, which is the largest in the U.S. to use Property Assessed Clean Energy financing. (Midwest Energy News)
• In a new report, Chicago has identified $184 million in annual energy savings possible through increased energy efficiency strategies at nearly 2,000 properties across the city. (Transmission & Distribution World)
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NUCLEAR: As more nuclear plants go offline, industry leaders are forced to confront the “broken system” for taking plants out of service and storing radioactive waste. (NPR)
POLICY: Comprehensive energy reform bills will be the Michigan Legislature’s “first priority” when it returns to session after the November election. (Michigan Radio)
PIPELINES:
• More than 100 Dakota Access pipeline protesters were arrested on various charges in North Dakota over the weekend. (CNN)
• Tribal members in South Dakota say they are fighting to protect clean-water supplies for 200,000 state residents. (Rapid City Journal)
• Construction on South Dakota’s portion of the Dakota Access pipeline is nearly completed. (Sioux Falls Argus Leader)
• A northwest Iowa city is seeing a local economic boost from temporary workers on the Dakota Access pipeline. (Sioux City Journal)
COAL:
• A process has started to determine what damages may be levied against the state of Ohio after it allowed a company to mine for coal beneath a state park. (Logan Daily News)
• A Murray Energy coal mine in Ohio will close permanently at the end of December because its reserves have ran out. (Platts)
GRID: Wisconsin-based American Transmission Co. plans to spend $4 billion over the next 10 years on infrastructure upgrades. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
OIL AND GAS: Officials at WEC Energy Group are “undaunted” by the $6.8 billion natural gas main replacement project in Chicago that the company assumed in a merger with Integrys Energy Group. (Milwaukee Business Journal)
TRANSMISSION: Detroit-based DTE Energy says it warned the city’s lighting agency about downed power lines near a home weeks before a 12-year-old was electrocuted in September. (Associated Press)
COMMENTARY:
• Michigan-based automotive analysts dispute the findings of a recent report on fuel-economy standards, saying they are good for the “industry, suppliers, consumers, and the American economy.” (Midwest Energy News)
• One Minnesota lawmaker says state regulators did not designate an adequate replacement when it approved the retirement of units at a major coal plant. (St. Cloud Times)