ILLINOIS: A proposal from Gov. Bruce Rauner would seize $98 million from a ratepayer-funded clean energy program and apply it to the budget gap. (Crain’s Chicago Business)

EPA: Supreme Court justices appeared divided over whether the EPA should have included compliance costs in 2011 pollution rules, as Iowa’s governor and attorney general find themselves on opposite sides of the case. (Greenwire, Associated Press)

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TRANSMISSION:
• Wisconsin regulators are expected to decide on the contested Badger-Coulee transmission project today. (La Crosse Tribune)
• Iowa lawmakers advance a bill that would restrict the use of eminent domain for a transmission project. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

EFFICIENCY:
• More hospitals are turning to combined heat and power systems to save energy. (Midwest Energy News)
• Rural co-ops urge Congress to block an Energy Department rule banning electric water heaters, which are used in demand response programs. (Electric Co-op Today)

SOLAR:
• There is “a huge amount of history and emotion” regarding the site of a proposed Minnesota solar project. (Rochester Post-Bulletin)
• Recent approval of a solar project in Carbondale, Illinois includes provisions to minimize soil disruption at a brownfield site. (Carbondale Southern Illinoisan)

WIND:
• Clean-energy advocates seek to push wind energy beyond the Midwest. (ClimateWire)
• Developers of a South Dakota wind project will need to start over after officials rule they applied for the wrong permits for test towers. (Sioux Falls Argus Leader)

OIL AND GAS:
• North Dakota’s rig count drops below 100 for the first time in 5 years. (Associated Press)
• Leaders in North Dakota push to draw more manufacturing to diversify the state’s economy. (Reuters)
• A Siemens plant in Ohio that supplies the oil and gas industry is laying off 200 workers. (Columbus Dispatch)
• North Dakota may challenge new federal fracking rules for public lands. (Associated Press)
• Democrats in Congerss push to expand regulations governing oil trains. (The Hill)
• Pipe is already being stockpiled for a proposed project across South Dakota and Iowa. (Sioux Falls Argus Leader)

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COMMENTARY:
• Should states be able to ignore carbon regulations? (Mother Jones)
• Michigan’s governor faces mixed messages from his own party on energy. (Crain’s Detroit Business)