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)