2016 was a breakout year for solar in Wisconsin

SOLAR: Nearly fives times as much solar development took place in Wisconsin last year compared to 2015 ​“as utilities, businesses and homeowners responded to falling solar prices.” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

ALSO:
• Missouri’s electric cooperative association is backing proposed legislation that would make net metering less available and more costly across the state’s electric sector. (Midwest Energy News)
• A tiny Iowa town considers building a 1.42-megawatt solar project to supply power to residents, which could save $2 million over 20 years in electric costs. (Sioux City Journal)

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ADVOCACY: The executive director of the Chicago-based Environmental Law & Policy Center is confident that public opinion, state and local politics and economics are on the side of clean energy heading into the Trump administration. (Midwest Energy News)

CLIMATE:
• Ohio’s carbon dioxide emissions dropped 12.9 percent between 2000 and 2014, but the state still ranks near the top for overall CO2 emissions. (Columbus Business First)
• 2016 was the hottest year in 137 years of record keeping, and the third year in a row to take the top slot. (Climate Central)

WIND: A Wisconsin-based wind turbine manufacturer wants to sell more of its products in-state since sector growth has been slow there. (Wisconsin Public Radio)

RATES: Submetering companies in Ohio say they should retain the right to add charges as they see fit for reselling energy. (Columbus Dispatch)

PIPELINES:
• Pressure builds for the decommissioning of Enbridge’s Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• A federal judge will not keep the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from launching a full environmental study of the Dakota Access pipeline. (Associated Press)
• North Dakota utility regulators approve a 3.2-mile crude oil pipeline to connect with Dakota Access. (Forum News Service)
• The number of arrests related to Dakota Access pipeline protests surpasses 600. (Associated Press)

COAL: A federal judge in Michigan allows a lawsuit to move forward against a municipal utility and the role a coal ash storage pond played in increasing costs for a nearby township. (Lansing State Journal)

BIOFUELS: Scott Pruitt, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. EPA, says he would honor the intent of the Renewable Fuel Standard but is open to ​“tweaking” it. (Reuters)

TRANSPORTATION: Ohio State University receives $1.5 million from the federal government to test ways of reducing emissions from buses. (Columbus Dispatch)

COMMENTARY:
• Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette defends Donald Trump’s pick of Scott Pruitt to lead the U.S. EPA, saying he will restore the ​“proper balance” between the power of states and the federal government. (Detroit News)
• A proposed $9.3 million waste-to-energy project at a wastewater treatment plant in Iowa looks promising. (Sioux City Journal)
• As businesses and Republican voters continue to voice support for renewable energy, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has not. (Urban Milwaukee)