Midwest coal retirements met with drop in demand

GRID:
• As 1.5 gigawatts of capacity were retired in MISO’s footprint last year due largely to coal plant closures, that was matched with a 1.4 gigawatt drop in demand. (EnergyWire)
• Experts discuss at a PJM meeting how distributed generation can be integrated with the grid. (RTO Insider)

FINANCE: A Minnesota firm sees success in helping local governments attract financing to pay for clean energy projects. (Midwest Energy News)

***SPONSORED LINK: The Michigan Energy Fair announces two new partners: The Sustainable Living Summit 2016 and The Great Lakes Emergency Preparedness Expo, June 24-25, Ingham County Fairgrounds, Mason, Michigan. For complete information go to www.glrea.org ***

SOLAR: A Wisconsin coffee-roasting company looks to meet all of its energy needs through solar. (WXOW)

TRANSMISSION:
• A $2.1 billion, 800-mile high-voltage transmission project being built out across the Midwest can be a model for the transition to a clean energy mix. (Utility Dive)
• A Nebraska utility wants to fast-track a $17.7 million transmission project to improve reliability where electric demand is growing. (Lincoln Journal Star)

COAL: A St. Louis-based mining company reaches an agreement with bondholders as it moves through bankruptcy. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

BIOFUELS: Officials in Lincoln, Nebraska look to power the city’s buses with compressed natural gas produced from waste from toilets and sinks around town. (Lincoln Journal Star)

NUCLEAR:
• Roughly 2,000 people are expected to rally today in Springfield, Illinois to urge lawmakers to pass a bill supporting Exelon’s nuclear plants. (Quad-City Times)
• U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz says the industry will have a revival within 15 years. (Environmental and Energy Management News)

WIND:
• Wisconsin college students design a wind turbine to power cell phone towers in India. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• A time-lapse video of the tallest land-based wind tower in the U.S. being built in Iowa. (KCCI-TV)

CAPACITY AUCTION: Officials express concern as grid operator MISO redesigns its capacity auction rules. (RTO Insider)

CONGRESS:
• U.S. Senate aides give a behind-the-scenes look at what it took to craft the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016. (RTO Insider)
• Controversial measures are added to the legislation before differences are reconciled in the House and Senate versions. (E&E Daily)

OIL AND GAS:
• Documents show the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission — which ​“often behaves like an unregistered lobbying node for the oil and gas industry” — helped push a regulatory exemption for the industry involving industrial waste handling. (DeSmog Blog)
• For the fourth year in a row, the U.S. leads the world in oil and gas production. (Climate Central)

RESEARCH: Invenergy CEO Michael Polsky donates $50 million for an entrepreneur research center at the University of Chicago. (Crain’s Chicago Business)

COMMENTARY:
• Getting the new energy ​“ecosystem” to work ​“will be a major hurdle going forward.” (Transmission & Distribution World)
• Renewable energy standards would continue to grow Michigan’s manufacturing sector. (Lansing State Journal)