CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• President Obama’s climate plan to be announced today comes with stronger emission reductions than previously planned. (Washington Post)
• A surge in renewables has the administration setting a higher target than originally planned: 28 percent by 2030. (Climate Central)
The plan will likely help shape the 2016 presidential race. (Los Angeles Times)
Hundreds of businesses — small and large — write to governors in 29 states in support of the plan. (Associated Press)
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)

ALSO: A recent study shows the CPP would eventually reduce utility bills for Iowa customers. (Radio Iowa)

***SPONSORED LINK: Green Your Ride!  The Illinois Solar Energy Association is raffling a 2015 Tesla Model S! Only 2,000 tickets sold. 1 for $100, 4 for $300www.illinoissolar.org ***

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)

COAL: An influential physician who set off a grassroots movement to protect coal miners from black lung disease has died at 87. (New York Times)

SOLAR: Construction is underway on a 21-acre solar farm at the University of Illinois. (Associated Press)

INCENTIVES: Some federal lawmakers use the crude oil export ban as a bargaining chip to extend wind and solar tax credits. (E&E Daily)

RECYCLING: An Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company specializing in recycling kitchen waste oil for biofuel and feedstock is expanding into Detroit. (Model D Media)

COMMENTARY:
As Iowa’s largest utility transitions to more clean-energy sources, the state “still needs coal.” (Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier)
Civil rights group: Ohio families are more concerned about higher energy prices than climate change. (News-Messenger)
Michigan’s “burgeoning” solar industry is poised to help the state comply with the Clean Power Plan. (MLive)
FirstEnergy CEO: Ohio is losing its energy independence by being forced to import more electricity. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Andy compiles the Midwest Energy News digest and was a journalism fellow for Midwest Energy News from 2014-2020. He is managing editor of MiBiz in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and was formerly a reporter and editor at City Pulse, Lansing’s alternative newsweekly.

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