CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• The EPA’s climate plan to be announced today comes with stronger emission reductions than previously planned. (Washington Post)
• Setting the stage for its formal unveiling, President Obama asserts in a short White House video that “Climate change is not a problem for another generation — not anymore.” (Politico)
Energy efficiency is removed as one of the four building blocks for compliance, though states will not be limited in using it as part of their plans. (Greenwire)
Internal debate over the design of the final rule caused tension among officials leading up to today’s announcement. (Washington Post)
• 365 companies sent letters of support to governors on Friday in support of the plan. (InsideClimate News)
Texas utilities are siding with environmentalists urging their state to comply with the EPA. (Texas Tribune)

POLITICS:
• The Clean Power Plan could force a broader conversation about climate change in the 2016 campaign. (New York Times)
• A Colorado brewery faces a backlash over its campaigns against coal and fracking. (GreenBiz)

UTILITIES:
• In what’s believed to be an “unprecedented” transaction, a group of Minnesota co-ops has bought out an investor-owned utility’s assets in their territory. (Midwest Energy News)
• Utilities are increasingly interested in new technologies to help give customers more control over their energy use. (Greentech Media)

GRID: A key partner pulls out of a plan to unite the three U.S. power grids. (Greentech Media)

SOLAR:
• Why solar power is growing slowly in Oklahoma. (StateImpact Oklahoma)
• New rules governing solar leasing in Arizona are seen as another push by utilities to limit competition. (Wall Street Journal)
• A Nevada utility wants to cut its net metering rate by more than half. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

COAL:
• A Nevada utility will pay a band of the Paiute tribe $4.3 million to settle a lawsuit over pollution from a nearby coal plant. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
• An influential physician who set off a grassroots movement to protect coal miners from black lung disease has died at 87. (New York Times)

HYDROPOWER: Fights over transmission lines could complicated plans to import Canadian hydropower to the Northeast. (Associated Press)

NUCLEAR: Internal emails cast doubts on claims a California nuclear plant is safe from earthquakes. (New Times)

TRANSPORTATION:
• BMW partners with a California utility to offer some electric vehicle owners more than $1,500 to charge during off-peak hours. (CNET)
• Washington state raises its gasoline tax 7 cents per gallon, now the highest on the West Coast. (Spokane Spokesman-Review)

OIL AND GAS:
• California refineries see record profits. (Los Angeles Times)
• After bypassing protesters in Portland, a Shell drilling rig begins making its way to the Arctic. (Associated Press)

THE BIG PICTURE: A map from the Washington Post shows all U.S. electricity capacity by source.

COMMENTARY:
• Most states can easily comply with the Clean Power Plan. (Huffington Post)
• Should the politics of clean energy be separated from the politics of climate change? (Vox)

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.