SOLAR: Missouri’s solar industry faces its own “death spiral” amid uncertainty over a state rebate program. (EnergyWire)
ALSO: Solar provided 22 percent of new U.S. grid capacity in 2013, and Xcel says it’s overpaying for solar power in Colorado. (Greentech Media, Denver Business Journal)
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OHIO: State regulators investigate a rate surcharge that FirstEnergy says it needs to impose because of high winter energy costs, and clean energy producers oppose legislation to freeze the state’s renewable standard. (Columbus Dispatch, Associated Press)
RENEWABLES: Senators propose “victory bonds” to pay for clean energy tax incentives. (The Hill)
TECHNOLOGY: Scientists develop a way to produce ethanol from carbon monoxide. (Reuters)
FRACKING: A county judge allows a lawsuit to stop fracking around an Ohio lake to move forward. (Columbus Dispatch)
OIL:
• Current testing methods may underestimate the explosiveness of crude oil. (Toronto Globe and Mail)
• Federal regulators say oil trains should have two-man crews. (Associated Press)
• Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx calls for a safer rail car. (Reuters)
• North Dakota cracks down on radioactive oil field waste. (Bismarck Tribune)
• North Dakota is flaring twice as much natural gas as it did in 2012. (Bloomberg)
EPA: The EPA has consulted with more than 200 different groups as it prepares carbon rules for existing power plants. (Bloomberg BNA)
EFFICIENCY: Walmart says its Ohio pilot project for LED store lighting was a success, and it plans to expand the concept to other locations. (Forbes)
SS BADGER: Crews begin installing coal ash retention systems on the SS Badger ferry. (Ludington Daily News)
TRANSPORTATION: Automakers discuss the future of fuels beyond gasoline. (MLive)
TRANSMISSION: North Dakota officials delay a decision on a controversial transmission line through a historic battlefield site. (Fargo Forum)
NUCLEAR: Federal regulators approve a uranium mining operation in South Dakota. (Rapid City Journal)
COMMENTARY: The Toledo Blade blames some lawmakers’ “fealty to profit-seeking utilities that don’t want to be regulated” for ongoing efforts to undo Ohio’s energy laws.