COAL: The Sierra Club threatens to sue a Minnesota utility over coal plant emissions it says violate pollution rules, state authorities say they won’t pursue enforcement actions. (Midwest Energy News, Minneapolis Star Tribune)

ALSO: North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp pushes for increased federal funding of carbon capture technology, Murray Energy sues the EPA, and the EPA faces key deadlines this year on coal ash regulation. (Bismarck Tribune, Pittsburgh Business Times, Politico)

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SOLAR: Minnesota regulators will hear testimony today in a case pitting a solar proposal against a utility’s natural gas plan, and Steven Chu says utilities should get into the solar business. (St. Cloud Times, Forbes)

STORAGE: Car companies explore energy storage for homes, and A123 Systems sells its grid storage business to a Japanese company. (New York Times, CBS Detroit)

WISCONSIN: Lawmakers introduce a bill that would allow more financing options for renewable energy. (Daily Cardinal)

OIL: A pipeline spill at an Ohio nature preserve was twice as large as initially reported. (Associated Press)

FRACKING: The owner of a drilling company pleads guilty to dumping wastewater into an Ohio river. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

WIND: An Ohio environmental group says it didn’t endorse an offshore wind project proposed for Lake Erie. (WKSU)

WASTE-TO-ENERGY: An Ohio company announces plans to convert landfill gas into liquid fuel. (Columbus Dispatch)

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EFFICIENCY: Two Michigan companies are named finalists in an Energy Department efficiency competition. (CBS Detroit)

COMMENTARY: How power companies get a pass on coal ash pollution, repealing Kansas’ renewable energy standard would have a “devastating effect” on the state’s wind industry, and why a bill to deregulate electricity sales in Michigan is the wrong approach. (Huffington Post, Lawrence Journal-World, Battle Creek Enquirer)

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy, and has led the project from its inception as Midwest Energy News in 2009. 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 held a variety of editing, production, and leadership roles, and played a key role in the newspaper's transition to digital-first publishing. 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.

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