WIND: A legislative reform moving ahead in Minnesota aims to better position the state to become a wind energy exporter. (Midwest Energy News)
OHIO: The sponsor of a bill to freeze Ohio’s energy law says he wants to “maintain the status quo while we carefully review the best way to move forward.” (Toledo Blade)
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COAL: The Edwardsport coal-to-gas plant in Indiana operated at less than one percent of its capacity in February, and advocates in Illinois call for tougher regulation of the coal industry. (Indianapolis Star, Peoria Public Radio)
CARBON CAPTURE: The Energy Department seeks ways to turn capturing carbon emissions into a business opportunity. (Greenwire)
OIL:
• Activists plan a rally in Minnesota today to protest a planned Enbridge pipeline expansion. (Minnesota Public Radio)
• Oil and gas related investments in Ohio have reached nearly $19 billion. (Columbus Business First)
• North Dakota regulators are accepting public comments on a plan to reduce natural gas flaring. (Bismarck Tribune)
• TransCanada is giving landowners along the Keystone XL route a May 14 deadline to sign easements or face lower offers. (Lincoln Journal Star)
FRACKING: Democrats ask the EPA to reopen investigations into water contamination suspected to be related to fracking in three states. (The Hill)
UTILITIES: Exelon’s CEO saw a 69 percent increase in compensation last year, and American Electric Power customers will pay $57.5 million to cover damage from a 2012 windstorm in Ohio. (Chicago Tribune, Columbus Dispatch)
BIOMASS: A new report says the pollution impact from biomass makes it “the new coal,” while another study says biomass facilities could help rural economies and reduce transmission costs. (Greenwire, Midwest Producer)
WIND: Greenpeace praises Facebook, Google and other companies for their heavily wind-powered Iowa data centers, and a Minnesota businessman is found guilty of defrauding investors out of $1.5 million in a wind-energy scheme. (Des Moines Register, Minneapolis Star Tribune)
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WILDLIFE: Kansas joins a lawsuit challenging protection for the lesser prairie chicken, which some say could slow oil and wind development. (Wichita Business Journal)
COMMENTARY: Why Chicago’s “switcheroo” on petcoke regulation may be part of a plan to revive a controversial coal-to-gas plant. (NRDC Switchboard)