NATURAL GAS: A new MIT study questions the climate benefits of natural gas, finding methane leaks have been underestimated. (The Hill)

OHIO: The state Supreme Court says American Electric Power does not have to refund ratepayers $368 million in invalidated charges. (Columbus Dispatch)

***SPONSORED LINK: The 2014 Clean Energy Challenge business plan competition awards over $500,000 in prizes to the Midwest’s best clean tech researchers, entrepreneurs and students! Early bird tickets available. Presented by Clean Energy Trust. #StartUpNow***

PETCOKE: As officials from a BP refinery in Whiting, Indiana met with neighbors to roll out a new pollution monitoring program, they got an earful about petcoke and other issues instead. (Midwest Energy News)

COAL: High natural gas prices boost the coal industry, and an Energy Department official says carbon capture could raise energy prices by 80 percent. (Bloomberg)

COAL ASH: Federal prosecutors open a criminal probe of Duke Energy’s role in the Feb. 2 coal ash spill in North Carolina. (Reuters)

SOLAR: Kansas lawmakers table a bill that would have ended net metering in the state, but a committee chairman says it could return. (Topeka Capital Journal)

MEANWHILE: A Kansas legislative committee debates a nonbinding resolution rejecting climate science. (Topeka Capital Journal)

ETHANOL: Lower corn prices and higher demands are making the ethanol industry profitable again. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

FRACKING: Ohio’s oil and gas industry is not happy with the state’s revised drilling tax plan. (Columbus Business First)

WIND: The CEO of Nebraska’s largest utility says “there’s a lot of hype around renewables right now” at a forum on wind energy. (KNOP-TV)

***SPONSORED LINK: The Solar Powering Minnesota Conference on March 7 is SOLD OUT. You can still join us as an event sponsor to get in front of more than 300 movers and shakers! Learn more at growsolar.org.***

EFFICIENCY: Iowa researchers receive a $500,000 grant to improve energy efficiency at National Guard facilities. (Des Moines Register)

COMMENTARY: Why it’s time for southern Illinois to “get beyond the old coal wars,” how Wisconsin law prevents energy freedom, and why rail isn’t necessarily an alternative to the Keystone XL pipeline. (Carbondale Southern, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Slate)

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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