Note to Readers: Midwest Energy News is taking a break for the Fourth of July. Site updates and the daily email digest will return on Monday, July 8.
COAL: While environmentalists say it’s “the beginning of the end” for Xcel Energy’s largest coal-burning power plant units, a study filed Monday by the Minnesota utility concludes that it would be premature to retire the Sherco 1 and 2 burners. (Star Tribune)
SOLAR: From fear of lawsuits to questions over who mows the grounds, a recently rejected deal in Michigan illustrates how installing solar panels on city or county-owned property comes with added complexities. (Midwest Energy News)
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NATURAL GAS: Michigan’s first new utility-scale power plant in 25 years came online Monday. The gas-fired facility in Lansing will replace half the generation of a coal-fired power plant a few blocks away. (Michigan Radio)
LANDFILL GAS: Waste Management plans to break ground this week on a 4.8-megawatt methane gas recovery facility at Iowa’s biggest landfill. The plant will be the fifth of its kind in Iowa. (The Des Moines Register)
PIPELINES: Koch Pipeline Co. is proposing a pipeline to carry up to 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day from North Dakota to Illinois. (Associated Press)
COMMENTARY: “This cannot stand,” says a Chicago Tribune editorial on an Indiana regulatory decision that gives a BP oil refinery on Lake Michigan “an indefinite pass” on mercury pollution. Also: Why Chicago is a winner with the president’s Climate Action Plan. (Chicago Tribune, Crain’s Chicago Business)