UTILITIES: MGM Resorts is leaving Nevada Power to purchase its own electricity on the wholesale market; the company represented nearly 5 percent of the utility’s load. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

ALSO
• New York regulators approve structural changes aimed at better aligning utility policy with consumer interests. (Greentech Media)
• Utah’s Supreme Court upholds a $134 million fine in a trade secret case involving a new natural gas-fired power plant. (Deseret News)

HYDRO: Climate change and resulting low water levels could spell the end for the southwest’s biggest dams. (New York Times)

SOLAR:
• Solar growth is “rampant” in Utah, with more than 850 MW of new capacity coming online by next year. (Deseret News)
• A West Virginia company joins with online retailer Etsy to sell rooftop solar systems. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• A new 52 megawatt solar system under construction for Mississippi Power will double the amount of renewable power on the state’s grid. (PV Tech)
• Proposed legislation to freeze clean-energy standards in Ohio would also shut down competition in the state’s solar industry, advocates say. (Midwest Energy News)
• Minnesota lawmakers advance a potentially first-in-the-nation bill that would permit owners of large, ground-mounted solar sites to publicly declare them beneficial habitat for birds and pollinating insects. (Midwest Energy News)

CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• A new federal analysis shows U.S. electricity demand will decline on average of .61-.31 percent annually under the Clean Power Plan while the renewable generation will continue to grow. (Utility Dive)
• In a commencement speech, EPA administrator Gina McCarthy says the Clean Power Plan “will restore your faith in government.” (Washington Examiner)
• A Pennsylvania coal lobbyist leads the fight against the Clean Power Plan in his state. (ClimateWire)

POLITICS:
• Global warming, which presidential candidate Donald Trump has publicly declared a “total hoax,” is specifically cited in an application to build a wall to protect one of Trump’s golf courses from rising sea levels. (Politico)
• Pennsylvania’s Environment Secretary abruptly resigns in a controversy over emails to environmental groups, which one advocate calls a “witch hunt.” (Bay Journal)

WIND: A planned offshore wind project in Lake Erie near Cleveland receives another $3.7 million in federal funding for additional engineering work. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

NUCLEAR:
• Exelon was on a “full court press” last week lobbying lawmakers in Washington D.C. and Illinois in an effort to save struggling nuclear plants. (EnergyWire)
• A new report from the National Academies of Sciences concludes reactor operators are falling short of guarding spent fuel from releasing radiation. (Bloomberg)

COMMENTARY:
• “There is certainly enough evidence to warrant an investigation into Exxon Mobil.” (Houston Chronicle)
• Why low-income households carry a heavier energy burden. (American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy)

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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