OIL AND GAS: A new multi-year study shows that coal beds are most likely to blame for methane found in water wells in an Ohio county, though fracked wells could cause contamination in the future. (Midwest Energy News)
ALSO:
• New projections show Ohio’s oil and gas production will continue to rise despite low prices and less output elsewhere in the country. (Columbus Dispatch)
• Industry groups are questioning a federal agency’s authority to cancel oil and gas leases based on a lack of environmental review. (EnergyWire)
• North Dakota’s boom and bust cycle has taken its toll on Illinois residents who moved there to find opportunity. (Chicago Tribune)
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CLEAN POWER PLAN: Even if the federal rules are ultimately upheld in court, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence says his state will not comply. (Indianapolis Star)
SOLAR: Minnesota farmers are increasingly interested in allowing large solar arrays on their property. (Mankato Free Press)
PIPELINES:
• A landowner group in Iowa wants local officials to have authority over the construction of the proposed Bakken pipeline if regulators approve the project. (The Gazette)
• South Dakota lawmakers reject placing a fee on oil moved through the state by pipeline that would have funded a spill cleanup fund. (Rapid City Journal)
EFFICIENCY: Advocates in one West Michigan county have spent nearly two years trying to convince local officials to adopt PACE financing for efficiency projects. (MiBiz)
MEDIA: The Cleveland Plain Dealer launches a series on why Ohio is lagging in renewable energy development and how it can catch up to other states.
WASTE-TO-ENERGY: Several major corporations have been sending their landfill waste to a Wisconsin plant to be converted into energy. (Associated Press)
EMISSIONS: A study from Ohio shows the average home in a Columbus suburb created more than twice the greenhouse gas emissions as the average household downtown. (Columbus Dispatch)
COAL:
• An Indiana company will take another year to revise plans for building a coal mine in eastern Illinois. (Carbondale Southern Illinoisan)
• Local officials in southeast Michigan hope the town’s large coal plant will be saved from closing and instead converted to run on natural gas. (The News-Herald)
• More than two dozen coal plants in the Midwest are listed as “out of attainment” for federal sulfur dioxide emission levels. (SNL)
• Coal states must decide within days whether they will allow Peabody Energy to continue using “self bonding” for mine cleanup. (Reuters)
ELECTRIC CARS: The U.S. EPA has reportedly asked Volkswagen to manufacture its electric cars in the U.S. as well as help build a charging infrastructure network. (Reuters)
COMMENTARY: Consumers Energy says the “urgent need for a Michigan-first energy plan is even more important” following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to halt the Clean Power Plan. (Detroit News)