OHIO: Clean-energy and consumer advocates say a bill to alter Ohio’s energy efficiency law will increase costs for consumers. (Midwest Energy News)

ALSO: Why Ohio’s manufacturers are divided over the plan. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

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FRACKING: An investigation finds lax oversight of fracking wastewater in Ohio, and a scaled-back drilling tax plan passes the state House. (ProPublica, Columbus Dispatch)

OIL: An industry group says that despite several recent fires and explosions, Bakken crude oil doesn’t require special handling; federal regulators acknowledge shortfalls in drilling oversight, and Minnesota’s governor wants a rail safety plan expanded to include pipelines. (Reuters, Associated Press, Forum News Service)

COAL: Another coal miner is killed on the job, this time in Illinois. (Carbondale Southern Illinoisan)

UTILITIES: A Minnesota utility is on track to meet the state’s renewable energy standard 11 years early; Ohio’s Supreme Court temporarily blocks Duke Energy from charging ratepayers for cleanup of old manufactured gas sites; and Columbus, Ohio considers municipal aggregation. (Forum News Service, Associated Press)

POLICY: Michigan environmental groups collaborate with industry to identify unnecessary state regulations. (Great Lakes Echo)

NUCLEAR: Exelon’s CEO says states should pursue “clean energy” standards that include nuclear, federal efforts to develop permanent storage for nuclear waste grind to a halt as a utility bill surcharge ends this week, and a Senate committee questions the safety of decommissioned reactors. (EnergyWire, Los Angeles Times, New York Times)

WIND: Senators consider reviving the production tax credit. (Houston Chronicle)

CARBON CAPTURE: Illinois regulators approve a CO2 pipeline for the FutureGen project. (Springfield State Journal-Register)

COAL ASH: Environmental groups say proposed Illinois coal ash regulations don’t go far enough. (Progress Illinois)

NATURAL GAS: An Indiana utility gets approval to build a new 650 MW natural gas plant to retire six coal-fired units, and will convert two more units at a coal plant near Indianapolis. (Indianapolis Business Journal)

CLIMATE: An insurance company sues Chicago and other Illinois cities, alleging a failure to prepare for increased flooding due to climate change. (ClimateWire)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: GM says it will begin producing its own batteries for the Chevy Spark EV. (MLive)

TRANSPORTATION: At a climate panel in Iowa, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn says “we need everybody in” on regional high-speed rail. (Des Moines Register)

COMMENTARY: Debunking misleading claims about Ohio’s energy efficiency law. (Greentech Media)

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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