GRID:
• Researchers with the Cyber Resilient Energy Delivery Consortium in Illinois are working to build trust in the power grid, particularly when faced with cybersecurity threats. (Midwest Energy News)
• A planned 125-mile transmission line through southwest Wisconsin is pitting environmental groups against each other. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
PIPELINES: TransCanada asks the U.S. State Department to pause its review of the Upland Pipeline that would carry oil from North Dakota to Canada. (Bismarck Tribune)
WIND: Some residents in central Illinois hope to halt construction on a 139-turbine wind project through litigation. (Decatur Herald & Review)
SOLAR:
• A proposed array at a Madison technical college would be Wisconsin’s largest. (Wisconsin State Journal)
• The operator of one of the last solar manufacturing plants in Minnesota is optimistic about its future. (Duluth News Tribune)
COAL: Nebraska’s proximity to Wyoming mines — meaning lower shipping costs — is a key reason it was the only state to see coal consumption increase in recent years. (Omaha World-Herald)
OIL AND GAS:
• New figures show natural gas production in Ohio increased 13 percent over the prior-year quarter, while oil production dropped 29 percent. (Columbus Dispatch)
• Oil companies in the Bakken region are trying new hydraulic fracturing techniques to extract more oil without increasing their footprint. (Bismarck Tribune)
NUCLEAR: Exelon’s Clinton nuclear power plant in Illinois is back online after a planned outage and a year after its fate was uncertain. (Associated Press)
HYDRO: A hydroelectric facility run by Ameren Missouri set a record in May for the most amount of generation in the plant’s 86-year history. (St. Louis Business Journal)
CLIMATE:
• An initiative in Iowa is developing a curriculum for teaching climate sciences to K-12 students that allows students to reach their own conclusions based on the data available. (IowaWatch)
• Mayoral candidates in Racine, Wisconsin say they will remain committed to local efforts to curb climate change in the wake of President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement. (Racine Journal Times)
• Small-business advocacy groups remain split over the impact of the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. (Associated Press)
• The Trump administration is taking “drastic” legal measures to block a climate change lawsuit brought by a group of young people. (Mashable)
COMMENTARY:
• A North Dakota editorial board says a natural-gas-powered ethanol plant would benefit by being allowed to store carbon dioxide emissions underground. (Bismarck Tribune)
• A Minnesota advocacy group says working collaboratively at the local level is key in finding solutions to climate change and air pollution. (MinnPost)
• The president and CEO of a major Michigan utility says the company is “in the middle of changes that are transforming our mission to provide reliable and affordable energy.” (Lansing State Journal)