SOLAR:
• Nevada regulators order utilities to continue operating under existing net metering rules through the end of the year. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
• Colorado regulators vote unanimously to continue the state’s net metering policies, under which solar customers receive the retail rate for energy produced. (Boulder Daily Camera)
• An Arizona regulator says conflict-of-interest complaints raised against her are being driven by “East Coast liberal solar groups.” (Arizona Republic)
• A report finds Solyndra misled federal officials to get loan guarantees. (Washington Post)

UTILITIES:
• Ohio regulators begin hearings Monday on a controversial proposal from FirstEnergy to guarantee income from struggling nuclear and coal plants. (Midwest Energy News)
• Exelon weighs its options following rejection of its proposed merger with Pepco. (EnergyWire)
• A filing by Florida Power & Light shows that its investments in natural gas fields in Oklahoma are losing money for customers and producing less gas than anticipated. (Utility Dive)
• Entergy received approval from Louisiana regulators to merge two of its utilities in the state. (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
• Kansas regulators approve a $78 million rate increase for a major utility that does not include a fixed solar fee the company sought. (Topeka Capital-Journal)

CLIMATE:
• President Obama will travel to Alaska next week, highlighting the impacts climate change is already having on the state. (ClimateWire)
• United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urges world leaders to act quickly on a climate agreement. (Reuters)
• NASA warns sea level rise is accelerating. (NBC News)

EFFICIENCY: A new report shows Ohio utilities had projected major efficiency savings under a mandate prior to lawmakers’ freezing the statewide standard last year. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

OIL AND GAS:
• Environmental groups are preparing to sue the EPA over what they see as lax regulation over oil and gas drilling waste. (Greenwire)
• A New Jersey judge approves a $225 million settlement between the state and ExxonMobil over contamination at refinery sites. (NJ.com)

FRACKING: An Ohio county elections board rejects advocates’ attempts to put an anti-fracking ballot measure voters. (Youngstown Vindicator)

COMMENTARY: How grassroots pressure put a stop to the Exelon-Pepco merger. (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.

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