GRID: A major obstacle to increasing the renewable portfolio of the eastern grid is upgraded transmission that can move wind energy from the Midwest, according to a new report. (Midwest Energy News)
CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• Documents show how fossil-fuel companies, Republican attorneys general and the association “dedicated to re-electing them” are aligned in a legal attack against the federal Clean Power Plan. (Bloomberg)
• Grid operator PJM says states could lose fewer coal plants and reduce costs if they work together to comply with the federal Clean Power Plan. (Columbus Business First)
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MERGER: In seeking to upstage Kinder Morgan, pipeline company Enbridge acquires Spectra Energy in a $28 billion all-stock deal. (Forbes, Reuters)
PIPELINES:
• Dakota Access opponents say the developer still hasn’t received permission for an easement to cross a federal dam and reservoir in South Dakota. (Greenwire)
• A judge orders a temporary halt to construction in parts of North Dakota, and will also rule by the end of the week on permits granted by federal regulators. (Associated Press)
• Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein may face charges for spray painting graffiti on a bulldozer during a Dakota Access protest. (Forum News Service)
• The oil company led by Donald Trump’s energy advisor, Harold Hamm, plans to use the Dakota Access pipeline to move its resources from North Dakota. (DeSmog Blog)
• Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad says state regulators were “reasonable and fair” in approving the state’s portion of the project. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
EFFICIENCY: Xcel Energy will start a new program this week to convert tens of thousands of streetlights across Minnesota to LEDs. (WCCO-TV)
NUCLEAR: As nuclear reactors close, a lobbying group to maintain the industry known as the “Dead Plants Society” grows. (Greenwire)
BIOFUELS: The largest-of-its-kind ethanol plant in Ohio will undergo $1.2 million in modernization upgrades. (Dayton Business Journal)
SOLAR: A secret solar society made up of industry leaders has been plotting how to make solar the dominant source of energy for the last 14 years. (EnergyWire)
OIL AND GAS: Ohio officials say a planned ethane cracker plant in nearby Pennsylvania will have spillover economic benefits. (Pittsburgh Business Times)
COAL:
• Retiring coal plants in the Great Lakes region also means less stress on the area’s water resources. (Circle of Blue)
• U.S. Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio hopes to sway Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to support a bill on restoring retired coal miners’ pensions. (WKSU)
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FRACKING:
• The U.S. Geological Survey forecasts an increased risk of “significant damage” to homes and structures this year in areas of Oklahoma and Kansas where earthquakes are induced by injecting fracking wastewater underground. (Forbes)
• The U.S. EPA will order shut wastewater injection wells near the epicenter of a 5.6-magnitude earthquake in Oklahoma over the weekend. (Reuters)
COMMENTARY: Mainstream media reporters are missing the boom in clean-energy job growth in the U.S. (Greentech Media)