NUCLEAR: Unlike in New York and Illinois, environmental groups are not pushing Michigan officials to keep a nuclear plant open in order to hold down greenhouse gas emissions. (EnergyWire)

SOLAR:
• The executive director of a national solar advocacy group discusses how Wisconsin has made clean energy advances despite some state officials’ hostile positions toward renewable energy. (Midwest Energy News)
• A mid-Michigan county is revisiting its zoning ordinances to allow for solar farms as a developer considers a 50-megawatt project on 300 acres. (Lansing State Journal)
• Officials in Ann Arbor, Michigan are looking to resolve concerns over the property tax impacts of going solar within the city. (MLive)
• Property Assessed Clean Energy financing helps a Minnesota business install solar panels on its property. (Faribault Daily News)

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CLIMATE: The Wisconsin Public Service Commission is the second state agency to remove climate change information from its website. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

CLEAN ENERGY: Advocates say Minneapolis suburbs are leading the way in changing attitudes toward clean energy adoption. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

PIPELINES: 
• While oil pipeline proposals have faced resistance and setbacks in the Great Plains, a network of pipelines through the Great Lakes region continues to grow in capacity. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• Two Michigan members of Congress are calling for Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac to shut down if a federal study shows it threatens the Great Lakes. (Michigan Radio)
• Three protesters are arrested for trespassing at the construction site of the Dakota Access pipeline. (Reuters)
• In response to Dakota Access pipeline protests, a North Dakota lawmaker introduces legislation that would protect drivers from legal consequences if they inadvertently hit, injure or kill pedestrians who are obstructing traffic. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

HYDRO: Xcel Energy says its hydroelectric stations in Wisconsin set a new record for the amount of generation during the past year. (Wisconsin Ag Connection)

EMISSIONS: The U.S. EPA tentatively rejects a request from several East Coast states that it crack down on interstate air pollution that originates from the Midwest. (Baltimore Sun)

WIND: Officials in a South Dakota county look to increase setback requirements for wind projects following intense opposition toward a recently proposed project. (Watertown Public Opinion)

OIL AND GAS:
• Plans for two major natural gas plants in an Ohio city will give a needed economic boost, local officials say. (Youngstown Vindicator)
• WE Energies says a proposed 16-mile gas pipeline in Wisconsin is meant to keep up with future demand. (LaCrosse Tribune)
• Disputes over mineral ownership along the Missouri River in North Dakota have led to multiple lawsuits and disagreements between the state and federal government. (Bismarck Tribune)

COAL: Peabody Energy secures $1.5 billion in financing to help the coal company through its bankruptcy exit plan. (Reuters)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Officials in Grand Rapids, Michigan look to evaluate the use of city-owned electric vehicle charging stations. (MLive)

COMMENTARY:
• An indigenous scholar and activist gives five reasons why the North Dakota pipeline fight will continue in 2017 as tribes face ongoing threats from fossil fuel companies. (MinnPost)
“Threatening to hold natural resources hostage” in order for a company to obtain a frac sand permit in Wisconsin “is outrageous.” (LaCrosse Tribune)
“Ohio could lose nuclear power if the state government and regional electric grid continue to undervalue it.” (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Andy compiles the Midwest Energy News digest and was a journalism fellow for Midwest Energy News from 2014-2020. He is managing editor of MiBiz in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and was formerly a reporter and editor at City Pulse, Lansing’s alternative newsweekly.

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