Ohio: Columbus-based American Electric Power announced that it would cease operation of the 585 megawatt Muskingum River Unit 5 by 2015. AEP had previously planned to convert the unit to run on natural-gas. (Columbus Dispatch)
More Coal: Coal’s share of total domestic power generation in the first four months of 2013 increased 4% over the same period the previous year, but coal industry insiders see tough times ahead. (LA Times, BizJournals)
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Solar: Walgreens, already one of the nation’s retail leaders in the installation of rooftop solar panels, announced it will be working together with Chicago-based solar developer SoCore Energy to put solar panels on top of more than 200 stores. (Midwest Energy News)
Smart Meters: In Illinois, CommonWealth Edison plans to install 4 million smart meters that General Electric will manufacture in Chicago. (Renew Grid)
Fracking: Seismologists at Columbia University claim in the journal Science, to have identified instances of earthquakes at injection-wells in Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas that were triggered by powerful earthquakes thousands of miles away. (Reuters)
Michigan: A group of Democratic state representatives have introduce legislation to tighten regulations on fracking. The bill would need bi-partisan support to pass the Republican-controlled House. (CBS Detroit)
Climate: States both ahead and behind the climate curve are responding to President Obama’s plan to reduce carbon emission and are seeking flexibility in the rules. Meanwhile, the Department of Energy is working to make investors, regulators, utilities and others prepared for more extreme weather events due to a changing climate. (The Hill, Pew)