COAL: Illinois regulators will allow the buyer of five coal plants to delay installing pollution controls, a move environmental groups say is just buying time before the plants inevitably shut down. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
ALEC: Having failed in its efforts to repeal state renewable energy standards, the American Legislative Exchange Council now plans to target net metering laws. (Greentech Media)
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SOLAR: A South Dakota solar startup shifts its focus from stadium tailgate parties to developing nations; and three Iowa legislators pledge to do more to advance solar policy in the state after touring installations in the Des Moines area. (Midwest Energy News, Des Moines Register)
OHIO: A wind energy developer says it would likely pull out of Ohio would reconsider proposed wind projects in Ohio if a bill weakening the state’s renewable energy law is passed, and a new report says the state’s energy law has so far saved enough electricity to power Cincinnati, Cleveland and Dayton for a year. (Columbus Business First, Dayton Daily News)
FRACKING: A new report says shale-drilling jobs in Ohio and four other states “are far below industry claims,” and a study finds Americans are largely uninformed about fracking. (Akron Beacon Journal, Climate Central)
ALSO: Michigan counties say a bill in the legislature would create a massive tax break for drillers, costing their communities millions. (Detroit Free Press)
CLIMATE: Developing nations stage a symbolic walkout at United Nations climate talks in Warsaw, Democrats hope to bring professional sports leagues on board to make the case for greenhouse gas reductions, and the EPA says state-level carbon taxes are still a possibility. (New York Times, Politico, The Hill)
NUCLEAR: A ruling requiring the Energy Department to stop collecting fees for nuclear waste disposal could create a $160 million windfall for Chicago-based Exelon. (Crain’s Chicago Business)
TRANSMISSION: A proposed Wisconsin power line is delayed after state regulators find deficiencies in the developer’s application. (LaCrosse Tribune)
FERC: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman Jon Wellinghoff, who announced his plans to resign in May, will formally step down on Sunday. (The Hill)
WIND: Developers of a proposed offshore wind farm in Lake Erie face tough questions at the project’s first public hearing in Cleveland. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
ETHANOL: Why prices for renewable fuel credits are still holding up despite the EPA’s plan to reduce the ethanol mandate. (Reuters)
MICHIGAN: A new survey ranks Michigan fourth in the U.S., and first in the Midwest, for the creation of clean energy and transportation jobs. (Crain’s Detroit Business)
HYDROPOWER: American Municipal Power proposes a new hydorpower facility on the Ohio River. (Wheeling News-Register)
ELECTRIC CARS: Tesla’s Model S tops Consumer Reports’ annual owner satisfaction survey with a near-perfect score. (Chicago Tribune)
COMMENTARY: Why the “oil abundance” narrative is wrong. (Council on Foreign Relations)