SOLAR: Nonprofit institutions across Wisconsin are taking advantage of third-party financing to help pay for solar energy installations, despite the lack of a clear statewide policy on the issue. (Midwest Energy News)
ALSO:
• A southern Michigan community moves forward with plans for a solar project near the site of a former foundry. (WTVB)
• A $2 million estate for sale in western Michigan is equipped with a solar installation that supplies most of the home’s electric needs. (MLive)
RENEWABLES: Republican Midwest governors are among GOP leaders nationwide that are embracing renewable energy from an economic development perspective. (E&E News)
MINNESOTA: With targeted investment in companies and policies focused on improving energy efficiency, Minnesota’s energy sector could grow to support 26,000 jobs a year, according to a new report. (Midwest Energy News)
RATES: An increase in AEP Ohio’s renewable energy surcharge is bringing scrutiny to a broader set of riders that appear on customer bills. (Columbus Dispatch)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Advocates tout the benefits of — and potential funding opportunity for — electric school buses at stops in Michigan and Ohio. (MLive, Columbus Dispatch)
WIND: An elementary school in Illinois removes a wind turbine from its property after a series of problems since it was installed five years ago. (WREX)
BIOFUELS: An Illinois researcher’s recent findings that corn would be better grown for food than ethanol stirs controversy among farmers and industry groups. (Champaign News-Gazette)
OIL AND GAS:
• After an eight-week moratorium on industrial water permits, North Dakota officials allow the oil industry to draw water from the Little Missouri River for hydraulic fracturing. (Bismarck Tribune)
• North Dakota’s economy is slowly rebounding after avoiding a complete bust during the oil industry’s downturn. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
PIPELINES: The additional environmental review of the Dakota Access pipeline will focus on the project’s impact on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. (Associated Press)
EFFICIENCY: U.S. Department of Energy researchers find that maximizing electricity-use controls in commercial buildings could cut energy usage 4 to 5 percent nationwide. (Phys.org)
COMMENTARY:
• The president of a major hotel on Mackinac Island in northern Michigan calls on state officials and Enbridge to find an alternative route to the company’s Line 5 pipeline. (Detroit Free Press)
• An Ohio editorial board says the “pieces have aligned at the Statehouse to make the needed correction” to restrictive wind turbine setback requirements. (Akron Beacon Journal)