WIND: Declining wind energy costs help keep electric rates down for Xcel Energy customers in western Wisconsin, company officials say. (Wisconsin State Journal)
ALSO: Wind advocates say improved turbine technology will help the industry as federal tax credits expire. (E&E News, subscription)
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RENEWABLES: A complex solar partnership helps a Wisconsin dairy cooperative offset 100% of its energy use with renewables. (Energy News Network, LaCrosse Tribune)
SOLAR:
• As federal tax credits expire for solar projects, customers in Minnesota and elsewhere rush to install projects. (Rochester Post Bulletin)
• The company proposing a 230 MW solar project in Nebraska seeks potential buyers for the power. (PV Magazine)
• Disputes between utilities and customers over net metering continue to play out across the U.S. (UPI)
• Kansas State University receives a three-year, $2.8 million federal grant to explore ways of integrating more solar power on the grid. (KFDI)
• Interest remains strong in a southern Indiana solar group-buying program. (WFIE)
OHIO:
• Ohio political observers say a referendum to block a nuclear and coal plant bailout would have a good chance of passing in 2020. (Crain’s Cleveland Business)
• Subsidies for uneconomic nuclear and coal plants are expected to drive down the value of renewable energy credits in Ohio. (S&P Global)
OIL & GAS:
• Ohio regulators order a natural gas provider to cease operations within a month after the company failed to comply with several regulatory orders. (Youngstown Vindicator)
• Brine spills resulting from oil and gas development takes North Dakota farmland out of production. (Bismarck Tribune)
• Officials investigate the cause of a 10,000 gallon oil spill at a North Dakota well pad. (Associated Press)
CLIMATE: A northern Illinois congresswoman says rural communities should be involved in climate change discussions, including retraining workers for agriculture and clean energy jobs. (WNIJ)
COMMENTARY:
• A renewable energy pioneer in Minnesota after more than four decades sees his fact-based view vindicated, a columnist writes. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
• The longtime Republican mayor of Carmel, Indiana, has spent his career pushing for urban resiliency and climate change action. (Natural Resources Defense Council)