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)