LANSING - A slow economy and a massive increase in gasoline prices helped drive an increase in mass transit ridership in 2008, a report from Environment Michigan said. Meanwhile, the Michigan Public Transit Association urged lawmakers not to cut funding for mass transit to help offset revenue losses. According to the report, "Getting On Track,"
Ann Arbor - Meadowlark Builders will feature two remodel projects at the Remodelers Home Tour on October 9-11, including Michigan's second Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design project. The first project is in its first phase of a full remodel/addition. As part of this project, Meadowlark Builders designed long-term goals for the entire house with
LANSING - Though committee members did not overtly oppose, or support, findings that power plants proposed by Consumers Energy and Wolverine Cooperative were not needed, members of the Senate Energy Policy and Public Utilities Committee did question the Public Service Commission staff's ability to forecast power needs. The PSC staff had found that projected demand
DETROIT - Understanding the process by which solar energy can be used to create an alternative to fossil fuel is the focus of $1.32 million Department of Energy grant awarded to three faculty members in the Wayne State University Department of Chemistry. Claudio Verani, Ph.D., associate professor of chemistry and resident of Sterling Heights, Mich.,
WIXOM - Two companies that make energy storage devices and solar panels have reportedly reached an agreement to buy Ford Motor Co.'s huge Wixom Assembly Plant and transform it into an alternative energy park. Terms of the deal were not announced. The 50-year-old plant, which closed in 2007, will get a $725 million make over
DETROIT - The concern for preserving the environment and its resources has created a growing demand for engineers specializing in sustainable practices. Beginning Fall 2009, the Wayne State University College of Engineering is offering a graduate certificate program in sustainable engineering that will position the university at the forefront of sustainability education in southeast Michigan.
LANSING - Two more of the state's proposed coal-fired power plants may have been nixed Tuesday by reports from the Public Service Commission staff that neither Consumers Energy nor Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative had proven the need for them. Consumers has applied for a new 930 megawatt plant at its Karn-Weadock Generating Station in Hampton
DETROIT - Detroit Edison has been authorized by the Michigan Public Service Commission to partially reimburse customers for installing solar Photovoltaic systems, up to $25 million in total. Not only can customers receive a payment upon installation, but they also will receive a monthly credit on their energy bills for the next 20 years. This
NOVI - ITC Holdings Corp. continues to gain traction for its Green Power Express transmission project by announced Wednesday that it has signed an expression of interest to collaborate by tapping the wind energy farms operated by NorthWestern Energy. The NorthWestern partnership is one of several ITC anticipates signing in support of the 3,000 mile,
LANSING - Utility customer choice advocates have been relatively quiet since the passage of the restructuring laws that capped that choice, but the debate appears to be rekindling since Consumers Energy announced that it had reached the cap. Consumers notified alternative energy suppliers in its territory and the Public Service Commission on Friday that it