Ohio PUC staff side against utility in second ​‘bailout’ case

CHICAGO: Neighborhood activists who formerly took on a fight to close Chicago’s coal plants now face a new challenge in rising diesel exhaust emissions. (Midwest Energy News)

RPS: Clean-energy advocates are skeptical that Michigan utilities will continue investing in renewable energy if standards are eliminated. (Crain’s Detroit Business)

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OHIO:
• A three-year-long case filed by a ratepayer against an Ohio utility shows how state regulators’ complaint process is flawed. (Columbus Dispatch)
• As it did in a similar case for FirstEnergy, PUCO staff have recommended rejecting AEP’s ​“bailout” proposal. (Columbus Dispatch)

OIL AND GAS:
• The U.S. House approves ending the ban on crude oil exports, but the policy has a more uncertain fate in the Senate and possibly a presidential veto. (New York Times)
• A major legal fight may be brewing in Oklahoma over state officials’ authority to regulate seismic activity due to oil and gas development. (EnergyWire)

NUCLEAR: Given that it generates nearly a quarter of Michigan’s electricity, some wonder whether nuclear power will play a greater role in the state’s future energy mix. (Detroit Free Press)

COAL:
• City officials in Detroit say a company has been improperly storing a coal-based byproduct known as ​“coke breeze.” (Detroit Free Press)
• CEO Robert Murray is taking on the federal government and the media in his efforts to protect the coal industry. (Toledo Blade)
• Utilities in Michigan plan to close 25 coal-burning units by 2020. (Detroit Free Press)

PIPELINE: Enbridge’s Line 5 below the Straits of Mackinac faces an uncertain future. (Detroit Free Press)

WISCONSIN: Renewable energy and living off the grid is a way of life in Wisconsin’s Driftless region. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

BATTERIES: Analysts say Johnson Control’s possible buy-out of a battery manufacturing company would be a natural and productive extension of its business. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

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EMPLOYMENT: Energy sector job growth has occurred at nearly double the rate as total job growth in Michigan. (Detroit Free Press)

COMMENTARY:
• Even with two more years to file a Clean Power Plan compliance strategy, North Dakota should continue fighting the U.S. EPA on the rules. (Bismarck Tribune)
• The president and CEO of AEP Ohio says a power-purchase agreement before state regulators is ​“essentially an insurance policy” on the rising costs of electricity due to plant closings. (Columbus Dispatch)
• The American Lung Association praises Xcel Energy for planning to close units at its large Sherco coal plant. (St. Cloud Times)