OIL: North Dakota regulators approve a plan requiring producers to strip oil of explosive hydrocarbons before shipping. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

ALSO: Enbridge settles a class-action lawsuit over the 2010 Kalamazoo River spill, workers clean up two spills in North Dakota, and Exxon sees abundant oil supplies well into the future. (MLive, Forum News Service, Associated Press)

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POLITICS: Despite being closed since 2012, Chicago’s coal plants — along with the city’s petcoke piles — are playing a big role in this year’s municipal elections. (Midwest Energy News)

FRACKING: An Ohio bill that would change disclosure rules for fracking chemicals is stalled in committee (background here), low prices prompt a drilling company to suspend operations in Ohio, and a study finds lower levels of methane emissions from drilling operations. (Columbus Dispatch, Midwest Energy News archive, Columbus Business First, The Hill)

TRANSMISSION: Environmental groups are divided over a proposed Wisconsin transmission line, as opponents criticize state regulators at a public hearing on the project. (Madison Capital Times, La Crosse Tribune)

GRID: A MISO plan aims to better coordinate electricity and natural gas supplies. (EnergyWire)

EFFICIENCY: A study finds distributed generation and efficiency could cost utilities $48 billion a year by 2025. (Houston Chronicle)

WISCONSIN: An EPA official says she is “perplexed” that Wisconsin “does not see economic opportunity” in moving away from coal. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

MICHIGAN: A bill to count burning solid waste as renewable energy in Michigan at one point included petcoke, that provision was removed by an amendment. (Detroit Free Press)

NUCLEAR: Exelon seeks to extend the license of an Illinois nuclear plant through the 2040s. (Chicago Tribune)

WIND: Wind energy continues to grow in coal-dependent North Dakota. (Minot Daily News)

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SOLAR: Work begins on a solar array at an Ohio GM plant. (WKBN)

COMMENTARY: Michigan can do better than “all of the above.” (Detroit News)

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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