OIL AND GAS: Oil prices will likely fall again after a meeting of 18 nations fails to reach an agreement to freeze production. (New York Times)
ALSO:
• U.S. natural gas production set a record in 2015 despite falling prices. (Houston Chronicle)
• A drilling company challenges the rejection of a federal lease in Montana over tribal concerns. (Associated Press)
• Developers scrap plans for a $6 billion export terminal in Oregon. (Daily Astorian)
• Wyoming officials move to plug a company’s wells after it fails to follow through with cleanup orders. (Billings Gazette)
• Payouts in a Pennsylvania settlement over leasing royalties are delayed after the state’s attorney general files a legal action in the case. (Pittsburgh Tribune)
***SPONSORED LINK: Don’t miss the action-packed 2016 Midwest Solar Expo, May 17-19 in Minnesota. Gain the latest industry insights and trends and network with hundreds of decision-makers from leading solar companies. Register today!***
EPA:
• The EPA reaffirms its rule regulating mercury and other toxins “is appropriate and necessary,” projecting benefits as high at $90 billion for $9.6 billion in costs; Murray Energy threatens to sue over the finding. (Greenwire, SNL Energy)
• The agency removes language from a proposed bill that would have prevented car owners from making performance upgrades. (The Hill)
CLEAN POWER PLAN: Texas energy companies sit out the state’s fight over the Clean Power Plan. (NPR)
CLIMATE:
• Documents show climate scientists and environmental lawyers advised a group of state attorneys general prior to their investigations into ExxonMobil. (Reuters)
• It’s becoming harder for some south Florida Republicans to work within their party as leaders continue to deny climate change. (National Public Radio)
COAL:
• The coal industry’s decline has been years in the making. (Quartz)
• Utilities in Michigan and Indiana retired 2,000 MW of coal generation last week. (Platts)
PIPELINES: Michigan officials oppose a plan to pump oil through idled pipelines beneath the St. Clair River that are nearly 100 years old. (The Hill)
SOLAR:
• A ballot measure in Arizona would amend the state’s constitution to preserve net metering. (Arizona Republic)
• California lawmakers pass a bill that would give consumers equal access to net metering regardless of their utility territory. (PV Tech)
WIND: A massive wind farm is being developed near a Montana coal plant with a transmission connection to the Pacific Northwest. (Missoulian)
TRANSMISSION: Wildlife protections may jeopardize plans for a key Western transmission project. (Greenwire)
CALIFORNIA: A judge finds Shell and Iberdrola defrauded Californians of more than $1 billion during the state’s 2000-2001 energy crisis. (Los Angeles Times)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: An Arizona utility plans to convert its entire 2,100 vehicle fleet to electric. (Phoenix Business Journal)
COMMENTARY: The bipartisan history of the Clean Power Plan. (U.S. News and World Report)