TRANSMISSION: Missouri regulators delay action for 60 days on reconsidering a developer’s plans for the $2 billion Grain Belt Express transmission project. (EnergyWire)
UTILITIES:
• A class action lawsuit is filed in Kansas alleging Westar Energy executives undervalued their company when selling it recently to Great Plains Energy. (Topeka Capital-Journal)
• Ohio utility AEP ranks near the bottom of Midwest utilities in a new customer satisfaction survey. (Columbus Dispatch)
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RENEWABLES:
• Xcel Energy ranks high in another survey of utilities that are deploying the most renewables. (Utility Dive)
• Nebraska ethanol producers are turning to renewable energy to cut their carbon emissions and stay competitive. (WNAX)
OIL AND GAS: North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple calls for a special legislative session next month to address a state budget shortfall caused largely by a sharp decline in oil tax revenue. (Minnesota Public Radio)
NUCLEAR: A southwest Michigan nuclear reactor is back in operation after it was shut down last week due to a steam line rupture. (Herald-Palladium)
SOLAR: Kansas City Power & Light opens its first solar farm in Missouri on a 12-acre site. (Kansas City Business Journal)
PIPELINES: County officials in southern Ohio reject Duke Energy’s plan to build a natural gas pipeline through several communities. (WLWT-TV)
FRAC SAND: Frac sand remains absent from shipping docks on the Mississippi River near Minnesota and Wisconsin. (Winona Daily News)
EFFICIENCY:
• DTE Energy customers who participated in the utility’s efficiency programs in 2015 will save nearly $600 million. (Transmission & Distribution World)
• A new report says growth in building efficiency and weakened industrial demand is decreasing carbon emissions and lowering electricity prices. (Climate Central)
RAIL:
• Under a new rule proposed by the federal Department of Transportation, railroads hauling crude oil would need to develop comprehensive plans for dealing with a potential spill. (Associated Press)
• A decrease in coal shipments is contributing to plunging profits for the rail industry. (Bloomberg News)
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CLIMATE:
• Suspecting a political agenda, a Republican-led U.S. House panel subpoenas two state attorneys general and eight environmental and legal groups amid their investigations into whether Exxon Mobil misled investors on climate change risks. (Reuters)
• Climate denial groups seek to stall research by pursuing scientists through the court system. (DeSmog Blog)
COMMENTARY:
• Plant operators are “chasing in and out of states depending on the subsidies on offer.” (Bloomberg)
• With a “better understanding” of how nuclear power works, “it is not too late to reshape the discussion” around the energy source. (Forbes)
• With more renewable energy coming online, planners should give careful consideration to how those projects connect to the transmission system. (Union of Concerned Scientists)