CALIFORNIA: Amid pressure from the state’s oil industry, California lawmakers drop a plan to cut the state’s gasoline consumption 50 percent by 2030. (Los Angeles Times)

NUCLEAR:
• Exelon will continue to pursue legislation guaranteeing revenue for its Illinois nuclear plants, despite results from a recent capacity auction that will ensure their operation through mid-2019. (Midwest Energy News)
• A Department of Energy team has begun crafting strategies for reaching out to communities that might accept and store nuclear waste. (Greenwire)

POLICY: Opponents of a 2007 North Carolina law that mandates 6% of electricity sold must come from renewable sources are making a last-minute push to freeze it at that level. (Associated Press)

CLEAN POWER PLAN: A federal appeals court declined requests late Wednesday by West Virginia and other states to block the Obama administration’s landmark climate rule for power plants. (The Hill)

COAL: The U.S. Energy Information Administration lowers its coal production forecast to the lowest point since the 1980s. (Bloomberg)

SOLAR:
• U.S. solar capacity hits a landmark 20 gigawatts, but an expiring tax credit could slow future growth. (Vox)
• Industry groups continue to pressure Nevada regulators to reject increased fees for solar customers. (Las Vegas Sun)

WIND: Opponents of a Washington state wind farm are challenging the Bonneville Power Administration’s authority to connect it to the grid. (Associated Press)

FRACKING: Showdowns between the shale industry and frustrated landowners in West Virginia are becoming more hostile. (EnergyWire)

PIPELINES:
• An analysis of federal data finds new pipelines installed in response to the shale boom are failing at a rate on par with lines installed before the 1940s. (SNL Energy)
• Environmentalists and ranchers are teaming up to fight a proposed pipeline in West Texas. (InsideClimate News)
• Citing legal constraints, county officials in Wisconsin are backing off a plan to require Enbridge to set up a cleanup fund in case a spill occurs. (Wisconsin State Journal)
• FERC denies a New York county’s request to view records regarding culturally sensitive sites along a planned pipeline route. (Oneanta Daily Star)

GRID: Microgrid projects in Brooklyn, New York and in a Long Island tourist town aim to improve reliability. (Bloomberg, Huffington Post)

UTILITIES:
• An environmental group accuses a Utah utility of greenwashing while pushing back against renewable energy. (Ogden Standard Examiner)
• Energy firms in Nebraska push for changes to allow for competition between alternative energy suppliers and public utilities. (Associated Press)

DIVESTMENT: The University of California sells off $200 million in coal and oil sands holdings. (Los Angeles Times)

COMMENTARY:
• Utilities aren’t opposing distributed energy because they’re greedy, it’s because their business model was designed for the 20th Century. (Vox)
• The Arizona Republic says the extent to which regulators are beholden to the state’s largest utility is “embarrassing” and “insulting.”