SOLAR: A glitch in state law means Illinois is not meeting its solar goals. (Chicago Tribune)

ALSO: Advocates say Xcel Energy’s plan to comply with Minnesota’s solar gardens law comes up short. (Midwest Energy News)

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WIND: A Colorado researcher estimates 600,000 bats were killed by wind turbines in 2012. (Los Angeles Times)

CLIMATE: International climate negotiations begin in Warsaw this week amid increasingly dire warnings from scientists that time is running out to prevent the worst impacts from global warming. (InsideClimate News)

OIL: A derailment and explosion in Alabama on Friday raises new questions about the safety of shipping Bakken crude by rail, and a North Dakota panel considers designating recreational and cultural sites as off-limits to drilling. (Reuters, Bismarck Tribune)

FRAC SAND: The frac sand boom is on hold in southeast Minnesota, at least for the time being; and a date is set for a recall election in a Wisconsin town where local officials are being targeted amid controversy over a proposed sand mine. (Minnesota Public Radio, St. Paul Pioneer Press)

NATURAL GAS: Iowa regulators sign off on Interstate Power and Light’s proposed new 650 MW natural gas plant. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

COAL: While oil booms in North Dakota, a pair of projects to boost the state’s coal industry have languished for years and are “dead in the water,” according to one environmental group. (Associated Press)

OHIO: Business groups in Ohio are at odds over a bill to weaken the state’s energy efficiency rules. (Columbus Dispatch)

NUCLEAR: A report says the nuclear renaissance is a “fiction” and a “fantasy,” and says apart from a handful of projects, “new-build nuclear in the West is dead.” (Forbes)

GRID: How electric water heaters could provide energy storage to help manage the grid. (Greentech Media)

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EFFICIENCY:  A report finds Michigan could save $13 billion over the next 10 years through efficiency improvements. (NRDC Switchboard)

TECHNOLOGY: A new book chronicles how an electric car built by hand in an Illinois garage nearly won the $10 million X Prize competition. (Springfield State Journal-Register)

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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