COAL ASH: A pipe rupture at a retired Duke Energy power plant has spilled as much as 82,000 tons of coal ash into a North Carolina river. (Charlotte Observer)

ALSO: Ameren Missouri releases a study that says there is no threat to drinking water from coal ash stored at a power plant just outside St. Louis. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

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PETCOKE: The company that made national headlines for its massive petcoke pile along the Detroit River has applied to again store the material in the same location. (Windsor Star)

OIL: North Dakota’s oil industry reacts to heightened scrutiny of rail shipping., and Basin Electric says it has completed upgrades to provide more reliable service to the Oil Patch. (Forum News Service)

UTILITIES: Utilities prepare for “the great crew change” as they seek to replace a large number of retirees. (EnergyWire)

PIPELINES: Environmental groups organized hundreds of protests last night against the Keystone XL pipeline, and three activists who protested Enbridge pipeline construction in Michigan were found guilty last week of trespassing. (The Nation, Lansing State Journal)

SOLAR: Duke Energy is seeking proposals to build as much as 5 MW of solar capacity in Indiana. (WBIW)

ETHANOL: Economists say ethanol supporters are overstating the impact a proposed cut to the renewable fuel standard will have on rural economies. (Harvest Public Media)

FRACKING: Drilling opponents file signatures for a third attempt at a ballot measure to ban fracking in Youngstown, Ohio. (Youngstown Vindicator)

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NUCLEAR: The EPA plans to update radiation standards, which date to the 1970s, for nuclear plants. (The Hill)

COMMENTARY: Fracking grows slowly in Ohio, how Illinois fracking rules can provide a guideline for petcoke regulations, and why coal baron Robert Murray’s lawsuit against the EPA lacks merit. (Columbus Dispatch, Chicago Sun-Times, Huffington Post)