COAL: A court rules that Illinois regulators can require consumers to purchase electricity from the FutureGen 2.0 plant, a decision one critic likens to “forcing you to buy a car you don’t want.” (Chicago Tribune)
OHIO: Despite a freeze of state requirements, all but one of Ohio’s major utilities say they plan to continue their clean-energy programs. (Columbus Dispatch)
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EFFICIENCY: An analysis of four Minnesota co-ops finds “behavior modification” programs are working to save energy. (Midwest Energy News)
SOLAR: A new solar manufacturing plant is planned in Michigan, and Lansing’s utility unveils an expanded solar array. (MLive, Lansing State Journal)
OIL AND GAS: An oil train derailment forces evacuations in Wisconsin, a fire at a North Dakota drilling supply business sends flames 500 feet into the air, and an Ohio college prepares to launch a new job-training facility. (Reuters, Los Angeles Times, Columbus Business First)
CLIMATE: A Pentagon official says climate change affects “the full range of Department activities.” (The Hill)
EPA: A coalition of industry groups says the EPA’s carbon rule “is simply not workable.” (The Hill)
GRID: Basin Electric plans to join the Southwest Power Pool. (Electric Co-op Today)
NUCLEAR: Federal regulators say a security supervisor at a Michigan nuclear plant “willfully violated” safety rules in a 2012 incident. (MLive)
COAL ASH: Missouri’s Supreme Court will review a case that is part of a challenge to a proposed coal ash landfill. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
WIND: A Wisconsin farmer says he isn’t being fairly compensated by a utility for energy produced by his wind turbine, state regulators disagree. (TMJ4)
ETHANOL: Senators from Iowa and Minnesota are pushing for a federal investigation into allegations that oil companies are restricting sales of ethanol at service stations. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
TRANSPORTATION: A Minnesota report finds that a mileage tax may be too complicated to implement. (MinnPost)
COMMENTARY: New research suggests battery prices will continue to fall rapidly. (The Conversation)