POLICY: Why not much has changed in Missouri five years after voters approved a renewable energy standard. (Midwest Energy News)
UTILITIES: A new report says distributed generation poses the “most significant threat” to utilities, and a former Duke CEO says utilities will be a “blank sheet of paper” as most generation is replaced by midcentury. (Forbes, Greentech Media)
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PROPANE: Federal regulators are taking emergency measures to move more propane into the Midwest. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
OIL: Congress will hold hearings on rail safety, and Minnesota says BP fraudulently collected more than $25 million from a state fund to clean up underground petroleum tanks. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
COAL: An Illinois town considers raising sales taxes amid rising electricity costs from its contract with the Prairie State Energy Campus, and Wisconsin ratepayers will be refunded as much as $18 million for power exported to other states from the Oak Creek power plant. (Chicago Daily Herald, Milwaukee Business Journal)
BIOFUELS: Why the oil industry may be winning its fight against the Renewable Fuel Standard. (InsideClimate News)
WIND: Stakeholders in a massive South Dakota community-owned wind farm — potentially as large as 1,000 MW — being the research phase of the project. (Watertown Public Opinion)
SOLAR: A Missouri town could become home to a nearly 8 MW solar farm, which would be the state’s largest. (Springfield News-Leader)
GRID: Drawing lessons from Germany, a new report offers a blueprint for large-scale renewable energy adoption in the U.S. (ClimateWire)
TRANSPORTATION: In a formal protest after being passed over for a $1.3 billion high-speed rail contract, Caterpillar says locomotives produced by a rival company won’t be able to hit the required 125 mph. (Crain’s Chicago Business)
TESLA: At the behest of the state’s auto dealers, Ohio lawmakers will try again to block Tesla’s retail model. (Columbus Dispatch)
TRANSMISSION: Opponents of a Wisconsin transmission line say they’re not giving up despite state regulators disregarding their request to reopen the project’s docket. (LaCrosse Tribune)
GREEN ECONOMY: Inspired by a similar project in Chicago, developers propose an environmental business hub in Madison. (Madison Capital Times)
COMMENTARY: Why disruption may be good for utilities. (Christian Science Monitor)