Alliant Energy has secured the go-ahead to build the 150-megawatt, $255 million Kossuth Wind Project in Iowa. "Investing in state-of-the-art wind generation continues our path to lower carbon emissions and furthers our commitment to provide reliable and affordable energy to our customers and communities," Alliant Energy President John Larsen says.

Leaders who prioritize themselves over their teams can't be surprised when their employees fail to excel, writes team development specialist Simon Mac Rory. "It also means that as a leader you must recognize that the team is comprised of individuals and that each has separate, unique needs and operate at differing levels of ability and confidence," he writes.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management launched an auction Thursday morning, offering the right to develop offshore wind farms on three tracts off the coast of Massachusetts spanning 390,000 acres. Nineteen companies have been pre-qualified to participate in the bidding.

Utilities can convert from coal and to clean energy generation economically by first identifying areas where new wind and solar projects are more affordable than running existing plants, writes Ron Lehr, former chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. "Utilities won't be able to ignore the downward trend of coal economics for much longer, but they can define the coal to clean transition on their own terms using established financial tools," writes Lehr.

New York OceanGrid, a division of Anbaric Development, has filed a proposal with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to build a 213-mile undersea transmission system that would carry electricity from offshore wind farms to New Jersey and New York. President Kevin Knobloch says the project would create a multistate transmission network and that each connection would be based on the respective state's regulatory needs.

Enel Green Power North America has kicked off operations at the 185-megawatt HillTopper project in Illinois. The site has separate power purchase agreements with Bloomberg, General Motors and Constellation.

Emerick Wind has secured approval to build a meteorological tower in Madison County, Neb., as it evaluates the potential for further wind development. Lincoln Clean Energy will erect the tower and help Emerick with the multiyear study.

Statkraft has arranged a power purchase agreement to supply Mercedes-Benz Cars with 46 megawatts of output from six community-owned wind sites in Germany. Mercedes-Benz will use the energy to produce the EQC electric car and for other projects.

Wilmar International published a plan to surveil its suppliers for evidence of noncompliance as the company seeks to eradicate deforestation for palm oil from its supply chain. Wilmar provides the world with 40% of its palm oil, and the move was praised by environmentalists as a "potential breakthrough."

The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources released an energy plan Wednesday showing how the state can bring its greenhouse gas emissions 35% below 1990 levels by 2030 using offshore wind and other strategies. "The Commonwealth will use this plan to build upon major advancements like securing cost-effective, large-scale clean energy procurements of hydro-electricity and offshore wind energy and implement policies to help keep Massachusetts competitive in the region," Gov. Charlie Baker says.