CLEAN POWER PLAN: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker issues an executive order prohibiting state agencies from working on Clean Power Plan compliance. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
OIL BY RAIL: Following a year of widespread concerns about increased oil train traffic, rail industry officials in Minnesota say their safety record improved greatly for 2015. (CBS Minnesota)
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SOLAR:
• Plans move forward for a 4.6-megawatt commercial solar project in southwest Michigan. (Herald-Palladium)
• Minnesota advocates say Target could be doing more to install solar panels at all of its 2,000 locations. (Public News Service)
SUPREME COURT: An evenly divided U.S. Supreme Court will likely have difficulty setting precedent as it takes up major energy cases later this term. (Greenwire)
OHIO: The advertising campaign being waged over FirstEnergy’s income-guarantee request reflects “the growing intensity in the fight to control the message over the merits” of the plan. (Toledo Blade)
COAL:
• Analysts say Peabody Energy’s turnaround strategy is “too little too late.” (International Coal News)
• Lansing, Michigan’s “workhorse” coal plant will still retire by 2020 despite uncertainty around pollution regulations. (Lansing State Journal)
• An Illinois couple is surprised at the strong public response to their social media campaign in support of laid-off coal miners. (Carbondale Southern Illinoisan)
• Since first being elected, President Obama has gone from campaigning on the merits of “clean coal” to the industry’s No. 1 enemy. (Grist)
DEMAND RESPONSE: Federal regulators say they don’t plan to revisit demand response rules following a Supreme Court decision last month upholding the policy. (RTO Insider)
TRANSMISSION: Kansas power companies are divided over a proposed bill that critics say would eliminate open competition for transmission ownership. (Topeka Capital-Journal)
UTILITIES:
• The founder of a new energy company has a bold plan to separate treatment of customer investments in energy assets from those made by utilities. (Forbes)
• Despite a lack of load growth, a national utility trade group says there is still opportunity for billions of dollars in new capital investment. (RTO Insider)
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KANSAS: A Kansas legislative panel grills a state administration official over a $20 million lease/purchase plan for a new state power plant that is facing widespread criticism. (Topeka Capital-Journal)
COMMENTARY:
• A “lifelong environmentalist” urges Wisconsin lawmakers to remove “outdated restrictions on building nuclear power plants” there. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• An oil industry official says the 2007 ethanol mandate “is already outdated.” (Winona Daily News)