COAL: The public utility in Rochester, Minnesota voted last night to close its aging coal plant, which could no longer compete with cheaper wind and natural gas. (Midwest Energy News)
WIND: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he’s “very confident” the Senate will extend the wind production tax credit this year; and a wind turbine manufacturing company near Fargo is up for sale. (The Hill, Grand Forks Herald)
OIL: Enbridge yesterday restarted an oil pipeline that ruptured in Wisconsin last month, and the response to the incident shows that federal regulators are getting tougher on pipeline safety. (Reuters)
FRACKING: In response to low natural gas prices, Chesapeake Energy is cutting production for the first time in 23 years, but still plans to aggressively develop new wells in Ohio. (Oklahoman, Akron Beacon-Journal)
ALSO: Officials in Winona County, Minnesota, aren’t enthusiastic about a proposed statewide moratorium and study of frac sand mining. (Winona Daily News)
NUCLEAR: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has stopped approving and renewing licenses for power plants until a solution to the waste storage problem is found. (Greenwire)
ETHANOL: A bipartisan group of 26 U.S. senators calls on the EPA to ease the renewable fuel mandate in response to this year’s drought; meanwhile, 20 Iowa legislators have been named “Champions of Renewable Fuels” by an industry PAC. (Des Moines Register, Cedar Rapids Gazette)
MILITARY GOES GREEN: The White House yesterday made a call for proposals for $7 billion worth of military clean energy projects. (The Hill)
TRANSPORTATION: Chicago expects to have 33 miles of protected bike lanes installed by the end of the year, but the city’s bike-sharing program has been delayed until next spring. (Chicago Sun-Times)
COMMENTARY: An Ohio solar researcher says Cleveland isn’t moving aggressively enough to expand solar power, and Maggie Koerth-Baker says while the U.S. electricity grid isn’t as vulnerable as India’s, it still has some problems. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, BoingBoing)