FRACKING: Over the holiday weekend, Illinois lawmakers advanced a bill to jump-start fracking in the state, bypassing an ongoing rulemaking process. (Chicago Tribune)
EFFICIENCY: A court on Friday tossed out a FERC rule requiring utilities grid operators to pay market rate for electricity saved through demand-response measures. (Greenwire)
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SOLAR: As Michigan’s first community solar project turns one year old, advocates say it can serve as a catalyst for further renewable energy development in the state. (Midwest Energy News)
EPA: States will have the option to use cap-and-trade to comply with new EPA carbon rules. (Wall Street Journal)
OHIO: The NAACP joins the campaign against a bill to freeze the state’s renewable energy standard, and the state reaches a settlement with a former EPA official who says he was forced out because of coal industry pressure. (Columbus Dispatch)
KANSAS: Documents show nearly $500,000 in lobbying expenses in the fight over the Kansas’ renewable energy standard, with groups favoring repeal spending the most. (Topeka Capital-Journal)
OIL AND GAS:
• Chicago is poorly prepared for oil train disasters. (Chicago Tribune)
• An Ohio community college sees a surge in demand for training in oil- and gas-related fields. (Canton Repository)
• A natural gas pipeline explosion forces evacuations in rural northwestern Minnesota. (Forum News Service)
• Safety regulators place new conditions on Keystone XL after defects are found in the pipeline’s southern leg. (Associated Press)
• Crews contain a small spill near Lake Sakakawea in North Dakota. (Bismarck Tribune)
• BNSF sees a “big opportunity” in converting locomotives to run on natural gas. (Forum News Service)
PETCOKE: Despite rejection from a state agency, a Detroit company will continue seeking a permit to store petroleum coke along the River Rouge. (Windsor Star)
WIND: Xcel Energy seeks federal permission to change the way it charges for moving wind energy along its power lines, and an Illinois community college will more closely study its wind turbine’s impact on wildlife. (Denver Business Journal, Lee News Service)
UTILITIES: A startup company offers 100 percent renewable energy to customers in six states, including Ohio and Illinois. (New York Times)
COMMENTARY: Hopes for a “fair compromise” on energy in Ohio, and Illinois lawmakers’ “astounding betrayal of public trust” on fracking. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Chicagoist)