OHIO: In new filings last week, consumer advocacy groups seek stronger state regulation over submetering companies that buy and resell electricity. (Midwest Energy News)
CLEAN TECH: Eight student-led startups based at Midwest universities are selected to compete for tens of thousands of dollars in cleantech investment funding. (Midwest Energy News)
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PIPELINES:
• A Native American tribe takes formal action to remove Enbridge’s Line 5 from reservation land in northern Wisconsin. (Duluth News Tribune)
• The National Wildlife Federation sues multiple federal agencies over a spill response plan for the Line 5 pipeline running through the Straits of Mackinac. (Detroit News)
• The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers agree in new court filings that the Dakota Access pipeline developer does not have permission to bore under a contentious section of the project. (Bismarck Tribune)
SOLAR:
• A South Dakota university plans to install solar panels on four campus buildings as a way to reduce energy costs. (Black Hills Pioneer)
• Community solar projects totaling 5 megawatts pop up in a Minnesota community. (Northfield News)
RENEWABLES: Ohio utilities AEP and FirstEnergy take different approaches to acquiring renewable energy. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
WIND:
• A Minnesota generation and transmission cooperative signs a power purchase agreement for a new 300-megawatt wind project that will increase its wind capacity by about 65 percent. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
• A group of investors files plans for 13 small wind projects in southeastern South Dakota. (Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan)
• A North Dakota wind project is set to expand under a new 25-year power purchase agreement. (Adams County Record)
CLIMATE: The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources scrubbed language about climate change from its website after questioning from a newspaper reporter. (Lakeland Times)
REGULATION: The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio will undergo more changes in the coming months as one member will not seek another five-year term. (Columbus Business First)
WASTE-TO-ENERGY:
• A Wisconsin county and Xcel Energy agree to extend the contract for a waste-to-energy facility through 2040. (LaCrosse Tribune)
• An Iowa city moves forward with a $9.3 million waste-to-energy project at its wastewater treatment facility. (Sioux City Journal)
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OIL AND GAS: Cities in North Dakota’s oil patch are poised for more growth as oil prices rebound. (Forum News Service)
COMMENTARY:
• President Obama lays out the economic case for investing in clean energy technologies. (Science)
• Ohio state Sen. Bill Seitz, who has led the effort to end clean energy standards there, says the state’s “bountifully blessed” natural gas supplies should guide energy markets. (Cincinnati Enquirer)