SMART GRID: A Chicago-based company has been on the cutting edge of grid technology, developing components crucial to the smart grid and the spread of distributed generation. (Midwest Energy News)
SOLAR:
• Falling prices are leading to a growth in demand for solar in Wisconsin and nationally. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• The Red Lake Band of Chippewa in northern Minnesota intend to build enough solar on tribal lands over the next several years to transition away entirely from fossil fuels. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
• Xcel Energy breaks ground on a community solar project in western Wisconsin at the site of an abandoned landfill. (WEAU)
• Construction on a community solar project near Madison, Wisconsin is underway. (Wisconsin State Journal)
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UTILITIES:
• Ohio-based FirstEnergy will help AEP lobby state lawmakers to re-regulate the state’s electric market. (Columbus Business First)
• Michigan regulators seek more information about plans for creating a Michigan-only utility in the Upper Peninsula. (WLUC)
WIND: Members of North Dakota’s Public Service Commission say they were caught off guard by Xcel’s recent announcement of four new wind projects. (KFGO)
STORAGE: An Indiana utility asks grid operator MISO for compensation for its 20-megawatt battery storage unit that has operated for five months. (RTO Insider)
PIPELINES: Dakota Access pipeline protesters are now targeting the banks that helped finance the project, asking them to halt further loan payments. (New York Times)
COAL:
• U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp tours coal facilities in North Dakota, saying regardless of who is elected president, using coal into the future will require plants to be more environmentally friendly. (Bismarck Tribune)
• The U.S. Energy Department is helping researchers identify the concentration and amount of rare earth elements at coal mine waste sites in Ohio and two other states. (Lab Manager)
OIL AND GAS: Gubernatorial candidates in North Dakota will be forced to deal with budget challenges as oil revenue declines. (Associated Press)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Tesla Motors says it will end free use of its worldwide charging station network for its vehicles ordered after Jan. 1, 2017. (Associated Press)
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BIOFUELS: A South Dakota ethanol plant celebrates 10 years of operation and producing 650 million gallons of the fuel. (Mitchell Daily Republic)
VOLKSWAGEN SCANDAL: Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan files a lawsuit against Volkswagen over the statewide environmental impact of its emissions cheating scandal. (Associated Press)