Minnesota regulators approve state’s largest solar project

OHIO:
• The state ratepayer advocacy group in Ohio says ​“everyone is unhappy” in a new report about the state’s energy economy. (Midwest Energy News)
• A group of power-company CEOs head to the state Capitol to lobby legislators and Gov. John Kasich to oppose income-guarantee proposals by two utilities. (Columbus Business First)

SOLAR:
• Minnesota regulators unanimously approve plans for a 100-megawatt solar project, by far the state’s largest. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
• Community solar is catching on in Wisconsin. (Wisconsin Public Radio)
• A small Minnesota town is betting big on community solar. (City Pages)
• The U.S. Department of Energy proposes $18 million in funding for a variety of microgrid and solar-plus-storage projects, including one in Chicago. (Utility Dive, Medill News Service)

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PIPELINES:
• North Dakota regulators approve the state’s portion of the Dakota Access pipeline, leaving Iowa as the final state left to approve it. (The Gazette)
• Canadian researchers, activists and industry representatives are looking at ways to minimize damage to the environment and wildlife in the event of an oil spill. (Great Lakes Echo)
• Critics say proposed rules in Ohio making it easier to build pipelines and surface coal mines would have negative impacts on streams and wetlands. (Associated Press)

CLIMATE:
• Two U.S. science agencies report that 2015 was undoubtedly the warmest year on record. (Washington Post)
• Scientists, business leaders and analysts warn that coal, oil and gas must stop being used as energy sources in order to avoid climate catastrophe. (Phys.org)

RESEARCH:
• Following state budget cuts and limitations, Wisconsin researchers are finding new ways to fund energy research. (The Badger Herald)
• An Ohio-based nonprofit receives funding to study ways to economically extract rare-earth metals from coal. (Columbus Business First)

COAL: Coal production in the Illinois Basin reaches the lowest quarterly levels since 2009. (Platts)

NUCLEAR:
• Wisconsin Republicans are teaming up with scientists to lift a decades-old moratorium on new nuclear plants. (Isthmus)
• Opponents of a plan to bury nuclear waste less than a mile from Lake Huron submit a petition with more than 92,000 signatures to the Canadian government. (Associated Press)

KANSAS: A bipartisan slate of lawmakers is upset at Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration for quietly negotiating a deal for a new power plant in Topeka. (Topeka Capital-Journal)

EFFICIENCY: Retrofitting buildings to be more energy efficient has grown into a $20 billion industry nationwide. (Bloomberg)

NATURAL GAS: For the first time, power companies likely burned more natural gas than coal for energy in 2015. (Reuters)

RATES: Michigan regulators are investigating Consumers Energy’s estimated billing practices following hundreds of customer complaints. (MLive)

COMMENTARY: Minnesota needs to continue moving forward with solar growth. (MinnPost)