ANN ARBOR - Monitoring of U.S. drinking water supplies for chemical and microbial contaminants should be increased, especially for vulnerable populations such as pregnant women, infants and young children, according to the final report from a panel of scientists and engineers that advises President Obama. In response to concerns about the safety of the nation's
LANSING - The surprising announcement some two weeks ago that Consumers Energy would end an agreement to by electric power from the Palisades nuclear plan has led the Public Service Commission on Tuesday to call on the utility to provide additional information on its decision. In its call for more information, the PSC has also
ROCHESTER - MI Earth Day Fest is returning to Rochester in April 2017 after the Rochester City Council approved its application this week. The 12th annual green and healthy living festival will return to its original downtown Rochester location on the recently-improved 60,000 ft lot and adjacent streets at Third & Water, where crowds estimated
LANSING - The final legislative session day of the 98th Legislature concluded with passage of the legislation that has dominated the 2015-16 term - a wide-ranging rewrite of the state's energy laws. Governor Rick Snyder, who brokered the 11th-hour deal with the utilities and advocates for greater customer choice who fought bitterly for the past
WASHINGTON - China and other Asian nations have vaulted past the United States to the forefront of the global clean-energy technology market, according to a new report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. But if the Trump administration and new Congress prioritize energy innovation, America can wrest back its market leadership and in doing
ANN ARBOR - The Environmental Protection Agency's recent reaffirmation of national fuel economy standards will likely result in large reductions of future emissions and fuel consumed - even if the future vehicle mix does not change, say University of Michigan researchers. "While there is no reason to believe that modifications to the applicable CAFE standards
DETROIT - Callida Energy, a software that helps more efficiently heat and cool buildings, won first prize Thursday and a check for $80,000 in the 2016 NextChallenge: Smart Cities technology challenge. RideHop, a company that more efficiently operate transportation systems, won second place and $20,000. The challenge is a partnership among NextEnergy, Denso International America,
LANSING - The news that the aging and troubled Palisades nuclear power plant in Van Buren County would close in 2018 provided the latest twist to the ongoing energy debate in the Michigan House, where backers of legislation overhauling key regulations are down to three session days remaining to get a bill out of the
HOUGHTON - Support for solar energy is vast. According to a 2015 Gallup poll, 79 percent of Americans want the US to put more emphasis on developing solar power. Most of the same people, unfortunately, can’t afford to install solar energy systems in their homes. Even after federal tax credits, installing solar panels to cover
SOUTHFIELD - Thirty students at the University of Michigan-Dearborn have been sharing three battery-electric Ford Focus cars for the past three weeks as part of a long-term study that will help shape the future of vehicle sharing. The experiment was crafted by auto supplier Denso and NextEnergy, a Detroit-based accelerator of advanced energy and mobility
