CLEAN ENERGY: States reaching higher percentages of renewable energy are challenging long-held assumptions about how much the grid can handle. (Wall Street Journal)

OIL AND GAS:
A two-part series examines how OPEC’s effort to crush U.S. shale production may have failed. (SNL Energy)
• The danger of exposure to vapors from oil tanks is just now being understood, as at least nine oil field workers have died since 2010 from inhaling the substances. (EnergyWire)
An anti-fracking movement could put an end to new drilling in a Pennsylvania county. (Pittsburgh Business Times)

CLIMATE:
• Top climate negotiators from the U.S. and China will meet in Los Angeles this week to announce new joint efforts between the two countries. (New York Times)
• California’s snowpack has reached a 500-year low, a condition scientists expect to become more common. (Huffington Post)
• A majority of rural Nebraskans say the state should start preparing for climate change to reduce its impact on agriculture and natural resources. (Lincoln Journal Star)
Environmental groups ask President Obama to halt new leases for extracting oil, gas and coal on federal land and water. (InsideClimate News)

SOLAR:
Community solar projects are expected to comprise a significant share of small-scale solar in coming years. (Wall Street Journal)
• A proposed budget compromise from North Carolina lawmakers would eliminate the state’s 35 percent tax credit on solar and other renewable projects. (Charlotte Business Journal)
• Two national solar groups are at odds over how to pursue extension of a federal tax credit. (Greentech Media)

WIND: Oregon officials will not disclose the members of an advisory panel on offshore wind development. (Portland Tribune)

GRID: Large-scale energy storage remains the “holy grail” for wind and solar developers. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

COAL:
• The assessed value of West Virginia’s coal reserves and mining infrastructure has fallen more than $1 billion since 2013. (Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register)
• A coal company agrees to pay $2.5 million for a massive 2009 fish kill caused by mine runoff. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

NEW MEXICO: Gov. Susana Martinez unveils the state’s first energy plan in 25 years. (Albuquerque Journal)

EFFICIENCY: Local officials in Saginaw, Michigan approve spending $1.8 million to convert the city’s roughly 6,000 streetlights to LEDs. (MLive)

COMMENTARY: A closer look at the fossil fuel groups attacking net metering. (Media Matters)

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. 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 worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. 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. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

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