Michigan AG calls for ​‘specific and definite timetable’ to close Mackinac pipeline

PIPELINES: Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette calls for a ​“specific and definite timetable” to close Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac, following the release of a major report last week. (Detroit News)

ALSO:
• The Dakota Access pipeline developer continues fighting a complaint filed by state regulators that the company improperly reported the discovery of Native American artifacts in North Dakota. (Associated Press)
• The developer of the Keystone XL pipeline is struggling to line up customers to ship crude from Canada to the Gulf Coast, putting the pipeline’s fate in jeopardy. (Fox Business)
• A private security firm hired by Energy Transfer Partners to monitor pipeline protests — which apparently did so without a license — says it’s the subject of a ​“deliberate misinformation campaign.” (Forum News Service)
• Many Dakota Access pipeline activists are shifting their attention to the proposed replacement and expansion of Enbridge’s Line 3 through Minnesota. (Minnesota Public Radio)

RESEARCH: Emails show Iowa State University officials worked with utility lobbyists to draft a plan to uproot the state’s renewable energy research center and give it a more industry-friendly mission. (Associated Press)

CLEAN TECH: Clean energy pioneer Jigar Shah discusses why his new company is interested in re-opening a shuttered food waste-to-energy facility in west Michigan. (Midwest Energy News)

CLIMATE: A new International Energy Agency report says governments should take a more integrated approach with — and increase investment in — clean energy technologies in order to meet climate goals. (Midwest Energy News)

WIND: Clean energy advocates say they will continue pushing Ohio lawmakers to ease wind turbine siting restrictions after failing to do so as part of a major budget bill. (Columbus Dispatch)

WASTE-TO-ENERGY: Major landfill owners are suing a Minnesota state agency over its push to burn more trash for energy. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

SOLAR: Ann Arbor, Michigan officials are partnering with Michigan Interfaith Power and Light to help places of worship install solar panels in order to meet the city’s solar goal of 2.4-megawatts per year. (MLive)

OIL BY RAIL:
• Officials say roughly 40,000 gallons of crude oil leaked after a train car derailed near Chicago. (WLS-TV)
• Top North Dakota lawmakers say it’s unlikely that an oil-by-rail safety pilot program will continue after two more years. (Associated Press)

GRID: Anticipating new development, AEP Ohio is planning a $12 million grid upgrade in Dublin, Ohio. (Columbus Business First)

UTILITIES: The Ohio Supreme Court rules Duke Energy can keep $55.5 million it is charging customers to clean up two former manufactured-gas plants near Cincinnati. (Columbus Dispatch)

OIL AND GAS:
• North Dakota health officials want more information about a company’s air pollution-control claims related to a proposed oil refinery in the eastern part of the state. (Bismarck Tribune)
• Amid an ongoing dispute over oil and gas royalty payments, North Dakota officials are attempting to collect millions of dollars they say the state is owed by companies. (Bismarck Tribune)
• A Thai company interested in building a massive ethane cracker plant has purchased land in eastern Ohio that used to house a FirstEnergy power plant. (Columbus Business First)

REGULATION: The head of Ohio’s electric and natural gas regulatory commission will be allowed to stay on as a governor’s cabinet member. (Columbus Business First)

COMMENTARY: A North Dakota editorial board says it’s ​“unfortunate” that law enforcement officials were unaware that a private security firm had apparently overseen Dakota Access pipeline protests without being properly licensed. (Bismarck Tribune)