COAL: The coal industry lost nearly 50,000 jobs in just five years and few of the 125,000 jobs added in the energy sector were in coal states with the heaviest job loss, according to a study in the journal Energy Policy. (The Washington Post)
ALSO: Oregon environmental regulators ruled that a proposed coal export terminal on the Columbia River meets state and federal water-quality standards, though other hurdles remain. (Associated Press)
FRACKING:
• Kansas regulators imposed sharp restrictions on the pressure used to inject wastewater into disposal wells in response to increased earthquakes in two southern counties, citing “immediate danger” to public safety from related earthquakes. (EnergyWIre)
OIL AND GAS:
• A federal agency has declared the northern long-eared bat a threatened rather than endangered species, softening the blow for the oil-and-gas drilling industry. (Columbus Business First)
• A proposal to replace nuclear energy in Southern California with a new natural gas plant near San Diego is pitting energy giants NRG and Sempra Energy against the Sierra Club and National Resources Defense Council. (U-T San Diego)
• A San Francisco company that has come up with a less expensive technology to convert natural gas to gasoline, diesel and other liquids is seeking to put it to use on a larger commercial scale. (Reuters)
WIND: Some residents of New York’s Niagara and Orleans counties say they don’t want a wind farm proposed by Apex Clean Energy because they fear its large turbines will ruin their waterfront properties and their health. (WIVB Channel 4)
EPA RULE: Proposed EPA reductions in carbon emissions from power plants are too much, too fast and threaten electric affordability and reliability, a group of utilities and state regulators from the nation’s midsection told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Tuesday. (Midwest Energy News)
COAL-TO-GAS: A new power plant in West Texas that could transform coal into cleaner-burning natural gas is poised to break ground later this year, an executive in charge of the project said at a conference in Houston Wednesday. (Fuel Fix)
EMISSIONS: Through April, NOAA will be flying above basins from North Dakota to Texas collecting air samples to document whether oil and gas drilling is adding to ground-level ozone. (Bloomberg)
EFFICIENCY:
•New Jersey gave Newark-based utility Public Service Electric & Gas permission Monday to spend $95 million on a wide range of initiatives to curb energy consumption that will cost a typical residential ratepayer 40 cents a year. (NJ Spotlight)
•The Seattle Mariners are the first major league baseball team to fully illuminate its home playing field with LED lights. (UPI)
SOLAR:
• Hawaii’s Sunetric has a total of about $22 million in backlogged rooftop solar panel projects awaiting approval from Hawaiian Electric Co., according to its parent company’s earnings reports. (Pacific Business News)
• PosiGen, a 4-year-old company based in New Orleans, pairs energy-efficiency upgrades with solar-panel leases, all for no money down and monthly payments of $50 or $60. (Slate)
MAINE: A Republican Maine lawmaker unveiled a proposal Wednesday to fix a clerical error potentially worth $38 million in energy-efficiency funding and to create a new cabinet-level energy commissioner position within state government. (Portland Press Herald)