SOLAR: Major media outlets cover the rise of solar, and the threat it poses to utilities, from a national and international perspective. (Vox, Reuters)

ALSO: A Minnesota study finds permitting costs and procedures vary widely from city to city, making some installers reluctant to venture into new communities. (Midwest Energy News)

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WIND: A South Dakota community wind project surpasses its funding goal, and a new 124 MW wind farm is planned in Nebraska. (Associated Press, Lincoln Journal Star)

OIL AND GAS:
• The U.S. is poised to pass Saudi Arabia in production of liquid petroleum products. (Slate)
• The oil boom has Wisconsin logging companies struggling to find workers. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
• An Ohio college establishes a program to certify “landmen” in mineral-rights negotiations. (Columbus Business First)
• A Minnesota journalist shares her experience working for a month at a North Dakota truck stop. (The Atlantic)

COAL: A proposed expansion of a coal-waste site generates controversy in Illinois, a Kansas coal plant curtails generation amid fuel shipping delays, and advocates draw attention to pollution from an Illinois power plant. (Springfield State Journal-Register, Platts, Lake County News-Sun)

CARS: Iowa is the latest state to pose an obstacle to Tesla’s sales model, and Toyota is making a major investment in hydrogen fuel cells. (USA Today, San Jose Mercury News)

POLICY: Missouri’s new task force is among many state-level efforts to advance energy policy in the absence of federal action. (EnergyWire)

COMMENTARY: How solar power can become the world’s largest source of electricity. (Grist)

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy, and has led the project from its inception as Midwest Energy News in 2009. 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 held a variety of editing, production, and leadership roles, and played a key role in the newspaper's transition to digital-first publishing. 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.

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