SOLAR:
• With major projects planned around the country, the price of new solar energy is now competitive or even cheaper than natural gas. (EnergyWire)
• A Texas utility cancels plans for a $46 million solar plant at Fort Bliss after failing to reach an agreement with the Army over siting. (El Paso Times)
• An Oklahoma utility is the latest to proposed increased fixed charges for solar customers. (The Oklahoman)
GRID: Results of Friday’s PJM Interconnection capacity auction are “the first piece of good news in a long time” for some power plants. (Bloomberg)
CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• Coal plants on tribal lands won’t get more lenient requirements under the Clean Power Plan that some were expecting. (InsideClimate News)
• The plan may make Minnesota and North Dakota, which have been at odds over energy policy for years, unlikely allies in compliance. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
• Republicans who worked to defeat a cap-and-trade bill in 2009 say they have no regrets. (Greenwire)
• California officials are in talks with other states about forming a carbon-trading market. (ClimateWire)
OIL AND GAS:
• A hearing will be held next month on plans to allow drilling near Glacier National Park on land considered sacred to the Blackfeet tribe. (Associated Press)
• A University of Colorado study warns the state’s oil production will decline rapidly as fewer wells are being drilled. (Denver Post)
OIL TRAINS: Documents released from a probe of the 2014 derailment of a CSX oil train in Lynchburg, Virginia have yet to answer why a company official took two hours to respond on site. (Associated Press)
FRACKING: Youngstown, Ohio will move forward with an anti-fracking ballot initiative, where local officials say a recent secretary of state ruling does not apply to them. (Youngstown Vindicator)
HYDRO: Lawmakers and experts disagree over whether a hydroelectric pumped storage facility in West Michigan should count towards the state’s carbon-emission reductions. (Midwest Energy News)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• California will exclude wealthy households from rebates for electric and hybrid cars. (Los Angeles Times)
• Tech companies are flocking to Detroit and automakers to Silicon Valley as the two sectors develop the next generation of vehicles. (Associated Press)
EFFICIENCY: Net-zero homes are gaining in popularity, particularly in California. (ClimateWire)
NUCLEAR: 25 years after the construction of a controversial nuclear plant in New Hampshire, both proponents and opponents are claiming victory. (Associated Press)
COMMENTARY: What the wind industry has in common with 19th Century railroad barons. (Slate)