Indiana Supreme Court sides with utility in rooftop solar case

SOLAR: The Indiana Supreme Court rules in favor of a utility’s rate structure for solar panel owners that critics say unfairly compensates customers who generate more power than they use. (Indiana Capital Chronicle)

PIPELINES:
• Minnesota regulators today will begin considering a developer’s request to build a carbon capture pipeline through portions of the state. (MPR News)
• South Dakota regulators today could establish a timeline to consider the same project, which faces opposition from landowners along the route. (Argus Leader)
• Michigan advocates say the recent Keystone pipeline spill is a cautionary tale for Line 5 that even relatively new pipelines can fail. (WSJM)

RENEWABLES:
• An eastern Ohio county will hold a public hearing next month on a proposal to ban large-scale wind and solar projects in rural areas. (The Review)
• An executive with Chicago-based developer Invenergy discusses her path to the clean energy industry. (Canary Media)

NUCLEAR: A late-December winter storm caused Lake Erie water levels to drop below what federal regulators consider optimal for an Ohio nuclear plant to operate. (Toledo Blade)

WIND:
• The sponsor of an Illinois bill to create a 10 to 12-turbine offshore wind farm in Lake Michigan hopes for a vote by the end of the week. (Crain’s Chicago Business, subscription)
• Minnesota utility Otter Tail Power acquires a 62 MW North Dakota wind project as a way to save customers money. (Inforum)

UTILITIES: Michigan regulators reject DTE Energy’s proposal to allow customers to prepay utility bills, which the state attorney general argued would have eliminated consumer protections and harmed low-income customers. (MLive)

GRID: The U.S. Energy Department has proposed new efficiency standards for grid distribution transformers that could reduce emissions and save consumers about $15 billion over 30 years. (Utility Dive)

BATTERIES: Hundreds of millions of dollars in state-backed tax incentives and grants for a proposed Michigan battery manufacturing plant stipulate that the developer must meet certain milestones during project construction. (Big Rapids Pioneer)

COAL: A 100-year-old combined heat and power plant at the University of Missouri has nearly eliminated coal as its fuel source over the past 15 years. (Columbia Daily Tribune)