May 13, 2013

By Julie Wernau | Chicago Tribune

Five years ago, Illinois passed legislation requireing electric suppliers to buy more renewable energy sucha s wind and solar power and then pass those costs on to customers.

The intent of the mandate was to have so-called green electricity accounting for a quarter of the power flowing into residences and businesses by 2025, while fostering homegrown jobs and cleaner air.

But that was before customers of the state's two major electric...   Read More »

By William Petroski, Perry Beeman | DesMoines Register

MidAmerican Energy Co.’s $1.9 billion investment in wind energy in Iowa will help hold down customers’ electric bills, make the state more attractive to companies looking for greener energy, and create good jobs, state and utility leaders said Wednesday.

MidAmerican Energy, a utility serving 714,000 customers in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota, said the project would create 460 construction jobs over two years and 48 permanent jobs, primarily workers...   Read More »

A lively crowd of students and clean energy advocates from around the state rallied at the Minnesota State Capitol on Earth Day, April 22, to encourage legislators to advance legislation that will create jobs for Minnesotans and generate clean, local, renewable energy. The event capped off a day of action led by the Minnesota Clean Energy & Jobs campaign, which is working to strengthen the state’s renewable energy standard to 40 percent by 2030; make Minnesota a leader in solar energy by...   Read More »

By Chris Sikich | Indianapolis Star

Would competition slow the rapid rise of electricity bills?  Wind farms are for this and say they can compete in an open market with coal and gas. 

The current system, the alternative producers argue, denies them a home-grown market, creates big profits for utilities and contributres to rising electricity costs. Utilities, however, oppose the change, saying they are responsible for providing electricity and are therefore in the best position to make decisions...   Read More »

Oil, nuclear, and coal are more popular with Republicans and in the South

by Dennis Jacobe, Chief Economist

PRINCETON, NJ -- No fewer than two in three Americans want the U.S. to put more emphasis on producing domestic energy using solar power (76%), wind (71%), and natural gas (65%). Far fewer want to emphasize the production of oil (46%) and the use of nuclear power (37%). Least favored is coal, with about one in three Americans wanting to prioritize its domestic production.

Read the full article...   Read More »

As a hedge, wind may be the best friend natural gas has.

March 11, 2013

By Herman K. Trabish | Greentech Media

Commitment to wind by U.S. utilities leapt by 57 percent in 2012 and continues to grow.

The number of utilities that bought or owned wind projects grew from 42 in 2011 to 66 in 2012, according to the American Wind Energy Association AWEA) Q4 2012 report. More importantly, “the utilities that directly purchase or contract wind cover more than...   Read More »

March 15, 2013

An organic dairy farm in Minnesota has become a high-profile example of the tensions that can emerge as new transmission lines are built through the rural countryside.

The owners of Cedar Summit Farm, in the path of the CapX2020 transmission project, claim the line threatens their business and want Minnesota lawmakers to increase compensation for farms that choose to relocate away from power lines.

In an interview with Midwest Energy News, Cedar Summit sales and marketing manager...   Read More »

The Midwest’s electricity grid operator later this year is expected to add more than 15,000 miles of transmission and 30,000 megawatts of generation to its system overnight — at midnight, to be precise, on Dec. 18.

That’s the date MISO, pending a few remaining regulatory hurdles, will assume responsibility for operating the electric grid in much of Arkansas and Louisiana and parts of Texas and Mississippi.

The area’s transmission has been run since the 1950s by Entergy, a...   Read More »