COAL: FirstEnergy says it will close four of the seven units at its controversial Sammis coal plant in Ohio by 2020. (Toledo Blade)

TRANSPORTATION: As part of a legal settlement with the Sierra Club last week, Ameren Missouri agrees to provide between $1 million and $2 million toward the electrification of buses in the St. Louis area. (Midwest Energy News)

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OIL AND GAS:
• Activists say federal regulators are not coming down hard enough on BP over an oil spill that occurred at its Indiana refinery in 2014. (Midwest Energy News)
• A company will continue searching for oil deposits on Indiana State University’s property. (Associated Press)
• Tribal members are running from North Dakota to Washington D.C. to protest the Dakota Access pipeline project. (WHO-TV)

CLEAN ENERGY: A panel discussion in Minneapolis today will discuss conservative approaches to clean energy policy. (Midwest Energy News)

WIND: The developer of an offshore wind project in Lake Erie discusses the “giant suction cup” technology that will make the project work. (Pacific Standard)

ELECTRIC CHOICE: Most alternative energy suppliers operating in Michigan say they would have to shut down by 2018 under proposed legislation. (Crain’s Detroit Business)

EFFICIENCY:
• Energy efficiency is playing an increasingly important role for Michigan farmers. (MLive)
• U.S. data centers are putting a greater emphasis on energy efficiency and sourcing their power from renewables. (NPR)

UTILITIES:
• Alternative energy suppliers in Michigan “do more than purchase cheap electricity off the retail energy market” and resell it for cheaper than investor-owned utilities. (Crain’s Detroit Business)
• Indiana Gov. Mike Pence’s support for electric cooperatives “has been unwavering.” (Electric Co-Op Today)

BIOGAS: A major anaerobic digestion project in Missouri is set to come online next month, “the start of what is intended to be a much broader marriage of renewable energy and agribusiness.” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)