CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• With little chance left of getting a stay on the federal rules, states like Ohio must continue drafting a state plan to achieve compliance despite their opposition. (Midwest Energy News)
• South Dakota legislators want the U.S. EPA to reconsider the federal rules to credit coal plants that have already made emissions reductions. (Daily Republic)
OHIO:
• A new study says FirstEnergy’s “bailout” request will cost Ohio ratepayers nearly $4 billion through 2024 and is part of a larger corporate strategy to shift risk onto ratepayers. (Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis)
• TV and radio ads hit the market in Ohio against two utility income-guarantee requests, but the utilities maintain that opponents are “short-sighted.” (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
• AEP is considering airing ads to counter the campaign by independent power producers. (Columbus Business First)
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CLIMATE: The Obama administration is set to propose a $1.65 billion, 10-year fund for climate infrastructure as part of its budget proposal for next fiscal year. (ClimateWire)
WIND: A northern Illinois jail looks to install a wind turbine as a way to reduce electric costs. (Associated Press)
COAL:
• The cleanup price tag for coal-ash storage sites around the country — which utility customers may be asked to pay — is pushing into the billions. (Associated Press)
• A coal plant in south-central Michigan is closing in June, but the utility is unsure what to do with the property after that. (Hillsdale Daily News)
SOLAR:
• Advocates will hold planning sessions in Wisconsin on best practices for communities to follow when considering large-scale solar installations. (LaCrosse Tribune)
• Michigan researchers receive a second patent for an innovative design that makes solar panels cheaper and easier to install. (MLive)
• Installing solar panels is already paying off for some Minnesota businesses. (The Daily Globe)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Auto analysts in Michigan say the sector’s growth isn’t where it was projected to be five years ago and low oil prices aren’t helping. (MiBiz)
EMISSIONS:
• Michigan officials say Marathon can already increase sulfur dioxide emissions at its Detroit refinery without approval of a controversial permit. (Detroit Free Press)
• A new report says most U.S. companies either underestimate or overestimate their carbon emissions as they make efforts to combat climate change. (Michigan Radio)
RENEWABLES:
• Business groups in Michigan are split over whether declining renewable energy prices make the case for or against renewable energy standards. (MiBiz)
• Nearly two-thirds of all new generation brought online in 2015 came from renewables. (Renewable Energy World)
OIL AND GAS:
• Industry officials and Republican legislators say President Obama’s proposed tax on oil to pay for clean transportation infrastructure will unfairly hit consumers. (EnergyWire)
• Some economists say levying the tax on oil would require polluters to pay more of the total cost of greenhouse gas emissions. (Climate Central)
• After boom times and an influx of workers, North Dakota is starting to empty out. (New York Times)
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SUSTAINABILITY: Corporate officials at Illinois-based Deere & Co. are resisting a shareholder proposal to move the company to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, calling it “neither reasonable nor feasible.” (Telegraph Herald)
COMMENTARY:
• A recent report offers solutions to the “utility death spiral” concerns that have played out over the past three years. (Midwest Energy News)
• An industry group says anti-fracking activists in Ohio ignore the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that the fuel source has helped achieve. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)