SOLAR: Officials at a Lansing utility confirm they’re working on a 20 MW project that would double Michigan’s solar capacity. (Midwest Energy News)

ALSO: Minnesota regulators defer action on Xcel Energy’s request to limit the size of projects in the state’s community solar program. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

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IOWA: Gov. Terry Branstad appoints a new chair to the state’s Utilities Board, one month after MidAmerican Energy met with the governor to complain about an unfavorable ruling. (Associated Press)

WIND: South Dakota legislators approve a bill to make taxes for wind farms more competitive with neighboring states. (Rapid City Journal)

EPA: A Minnesota official says increasing the state’s renewable energy standard “would certainly help” toward meeting EPA carbon rules, an Indiana official says the state may refuse to comply with the Clean Power Plan, and the chair of Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission says the state’s carbon target is unrealistic. (MinnPost, Indianapolis Star, WisBusiness)

TRANSMISSION: Regulatory staff in Missouri recommend rejecting the Grain Belt Express transmission line, saying the project “is not needed in Missouri.” (Columbia Daily Tribune)

OIL AND GAS:
• A company wants to resume wastewater disposal at an Ohio site that saw two earthquakes last year. (Alliance Review)
• Chesapeake Energy will test waterless fracking at an Ohio well. (Columbus Business First)
• An Ohio lawmaker seeks tougher penalties for wastewater violations. (Associated Press)
• North Dakota moves to regulate 20,000 miles of “gathering lines,” which have proven vulnerable to spills. (InsideClimate News)
• Lawmakers in North Dakota struggle to formulate a budget as oil prices fluctuate. (Bismarck Tribune)
• Don Johnson will star in an ABC-TV drama set in the Bakken oil patch. (Reuters)

FRAC SAND: After a Minnesota county fails to enact a ban on frac sand operations, mining opponents file an ethics complaint against the county’s zoning administrator. (Rochester Post-Bulletin)

MICHIGAN: Thousands of jobs will depend on the state’s energy policy direction. (Crain’s Detroit Business)

NUCLEAR: Safety advocates criticize federal regulators for not acting quickly enough on lessons from the Fukushima disaster. (The Hill)

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TECHNOLOGY: How carbon-negative power plants could help stabilize the climate. (Vox)

COMMENTARY: Why the Exelon bill in Illinois would hold back renewable energy. (Crain’s Chicago Business)