NOTE TO READERS: Midwest Energy News will not be published on Memorial Day. The email digest will return on Tuesday, May 27.

SOLAR: New legislation would require the Illinois Power Agency to purchase $30 million in clean energy, mostly from solar sources. (Crain’s Chicago Business)

NATURAL GAS: While energy is a hot topic in the Ohio legislature this year, lawmakers have so far passed up a chance to increase fines for natural gas pipeline safety violations, despite the urging of state regulators. (Midwest Energy News)

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COAL: The chairman of the Prairie State Generating Company has resigned. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

POLLUTION: The White House campaigns to build support for new carbon rules, and a new report estimates the global costs of air pollution at more than $3 trillion per year. (Reuters, ClimateWire)

OIL: The chairman of a leading Bakken oil producer warns “we can’t have any more issues” with safety in the region, North Dakota’s top regulator says the oil boom will last for generations, and the state’s oil reserve fund tops $2 billion. (Bismarck Tribune, Associated Press)

MICHIGAN: A poll finds broad support for shifting away from coal, while the state’s ranking drops in a clean-energy jobs survey. (Crain’s Detroit Business)

EPA: Records show EPA staff have accepted more than $4.5 million in meals and travel costs from industries and other groups with a stake in agency rulemaking. (Greenwire)

ETHANOL: A government watchdog group calls for an investigation into the EPA’s proposal to cut the renewable fuel mandate. (Reuters)

CARBON CAPTURE: The operators of an Illinois ethanol plant are seeking permission to build a second carbon-capture well at the site. (Decatur Herald-Review)

COAL ASH: The EPA reaches an agreement with Duke Energy to clean up a February coal ash spill in North Carolina. (Associated Press)

COMMENTARY: Why “ratepayer” is a dirty word. (Greentech Media)

CORRECTION: Environmental groups were not involved in the latest compromise proposal on Ohio’s renewable energy and efficiency standard, as misstated in an item in yesterday’s digest.

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Ken Paulman

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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