COAL: More than 80 percent of power plants that were retired last year burned coal. (Columbus Business First)

ALSO:
The Energy Information Administration projects for the first time that natural gas generation will surpass coal on an annual basis. (Platts)
Wind and solar accounted for all new U.S. generating capacity in January. (Utility Dive)

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POLITICS:
• Conservative activist Jay Faison is launching a $1 million campaign to encourage Republicans to support clean energy. (McClatchy)
• A Republican congressman from Nebraska describes his transition to generating renewable energy at his home. (EnergyWire)
• 88 Republican-controlled House districts now have utility scale solar projects; 67 have wind farms. (Morning Consult)

RENEWABLES: Bills in the Connecticut legislature would prompt significant increases in clean energy capacity. (Hartford Business Journal)

SOLAR:
• A report projects the U.S. solar market will grow 119 percent this year. (Greentech Media)
• California utilities push state regulators to reconsider a decision that preserved net metering in the state. (Los Angeles Times)
• Maine’s governor opposes a plan, backed by both utilities and solar installers, to advance solar power in the state. (Portland Press Herald)
• A report commissioned by an Arizona utility finds solar providers “have headroom to adjust” to changes in net metering. (Greentech Media)
• Whole Foods announces a deal with SolarCity and NRG Energy to install rooftop solar panels at up to 100 store locations. (ABC News)

CLEAN POWER PLAN: Arkansas officially stops work on compliance plans. (KUAR)

OIL AND GAS:
• Why government predictions of shale production came up short. (Bloomberg)
Billions of dollars are at stake in a Texas Supreme Court case over whether some equipment used in extraction is exempt from sales taxes. (Texas Tribune)
• Idaho lawmakers advance a bill to speed drilling approvals. (KBOI)
• Opponents and proponents crowd a public hearing on fracking in Colorado. (CBS4)
• A 75-year-old crude oil pipeline in New England is shut down. (Associated Press)

MINING: Democrats in Congress seek an independent review of a federal program that could leave taxpayers on the hook for coal mine cleanup costs. (Reuters)

GRID:
• A microgrid project in Denver will help Xcel Energy study the feasibility of battery-backed solar power. (Denver Post)
• Extending the federal Investment Tax Credit for solar will also provide a boost to the storage industry. (Utility Dive)
• New Mexico’s largest utility submits a plan to install smart meters for all of its customers. (Albuquerque Journal)

CLIMATE:
• The Department of Defense updates its official “Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms” to include climate change. (Greenwire)
A new report says roughly one-third of congressional lawmakers are climate deniers. (Grist)

NUCLEAR: New York regulators will discuss subsidies for nuclear power today. (Albany Times Union)

BIOENERGY: A Pennsylvania renewable energy supplier offers credits for landfill gas as an alternative to fracking, believed to be the first system of its kind in the country. (NPR)

COMMENTARY: SunEdison’s failure in a booming solar market “takes a very special type of ineptitude.” (Greentech Media)

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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