Federal regulators eye first rules for carbon pipelines

PIPELINES: Federal pipeline regulators for the first time propose guidelines for pipelines transporting gaseous carbon dioxide, including a requirement that operators prepare first responders for emergencies. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

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ALSO: Public safety and agriculture concerns competed with economic development arguments as hundreds of people, mostly opponents, packed a South Dakota hearing on a CO2 pipeline permit. (South Dakota Searchlight)

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SOLAR:

• Detroit officials act swiftly to approve a second phase of a neighborhood solar program out of fear that federal solar incentives could be clawed back once Trump takes office. (Axios)
• Local officials in southeastern Michigan work to devise a solar ordinance as a developer plans a 700-acre project there. (WILX)

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FOSSIL FUELS: Michigan House Republicans propose legislation to exempt 13 Upper Peninsula gas plants from the state’s clean energy law, claiming they’re needed for reliability. (WEMU)

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CLIMATE: An Iowa Department of Education committee tasked with updating science standards says terms related to climate change were watered down from what they proposed before being released for public comment. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

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NUCLEAR: Federal regulators express concerns over a plant owner’s “very, very demanding” schedule to reopen its shuttered Michigan nuclear plant by this fall. (Michigan Public)

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BIOGAS: Iowa regulators fine a dairy farm $20,000 for starting construction without a permit on portions of a manure digester system that would produce biogas from methane. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

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WIND: Utility officials say a planned 112-turbine wind project in North Dakota would provide a $100 million boost to the local economy. (Grand Forks Herald)

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RENEWABLES: Michigan rules shifting authority over wind and solar projects to state regulators will remain in effect as dozens of local governments challenge the new law, a state appeals court rules. (MLive, subscription)

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GRID:

• Public hearings start next week on Ameren Missouri’s 15% electric rate increase to pay for grid infrastructure upgrades the utility already made. (St. Louis Public Radio)
• Ameren’s request comes less than two years after state regulators approved a $140 million rate increase and as customer past due amounts and disconnections increase, a utility watchdog says. (Energy and Policy Institute)

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COMMENTARY:

• A Michigan clean energy advocate says the manufactured outrage over a proposal to lease state land for a solar project ignores key parts of the story that the property already was leased for oil and gas and logging. (Midland Daily News)
• The head of a power supply trade group and former Ohio utility regulator warns against overestimating future load growth from data centers and overbuilding the systems that customers would pay for. (Utility Dive)

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