SOLAR:
• Clean energy advocates file a proposal with Minnesota regulators that would make it easier and faster to connect new solar projects to the grid. (Midwest Energy News)
• An Ohio city suspends building and zoning fees on solar installations to encourage more solar development. (Cincinnati Enquirer)
WIND: Midwest states collectively are leading a swift transition toward wind energy as well as coal retirements. (Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis)
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METHANE:
• The U.S. EPA takes its first steps to regulate methane emissions from existing oil and gas sources while also finalizing rules for new operations. (Greenwire)
• In doing so, the Obama administration looks to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas industry 45 percent by 2025. (Climate Central)
• However, rules for existing oil and gas operations would likely have to be set by the next administration in the White House. (Grist)
• Ohio industry groups say the new rules threaten to slow the state’s fracking surge, while environmental groups call capping methane leaks “low-hanging fruit.” (Toledo Blade)
FRACKING: A new study says young children and infants are particularly at risk from airborne pollutants associated with fracking and drilling. (DeSmog)
NUCLEAR:
• The head of a Nebraska utility calls for closing the country’s smallest nuclear plant by the end of the year because “it’s just not economically viable.” (Associated Press)
• Community leaders in central Illinois plead with Gov. Bruce Rauner to help keep a struggling nuclear plant open there. (Champaign News-Gazette)
OHIO:
• Hearings begin on plans to extend indefinitely the state’s clean energy standards freeze. (Columbus Dispatch)
• Republican State Sen. Bill Seitz says it’s “increasingly likely” his plan won’t go before lawmakers until after the November elections. (Platts)
• The CEO of Pennsylvania-based Talen Energy says if struggling coal and nuclear plants in Ohio can’t operate without subsidies then they should shut down. (Utility Dive / SNL)
ILLINOIS: Nuclear, coal and renewable energy groups are all competing for the state Legislature’s attention on new bills before it adjourns at the end of the month. (Bloomington Pantagraph)
PIPELINES:
• Construction on the Dakota Access pipeline still faces strong opposition in Iowa. (Associated Press)
• The developer says it has secured all of the necessary permissions from landowners in North Dakota and South Dakota. (Associated Press)
UTILITIES: Ameren is preparing to make a final offer to acquire Westar Energy, Kansas’ largest electric utility. (Bloomberg)
COAL: Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship reports for a one-year prison sentence for his role in a deadly mine explosion. (Associated Press)
OIL AND GAS: Oil production in North Dakota dropped by nearly 10,000 barrels a day in March, though daily natural gas production set a new record. (Associated Press)
BIOFUELS:
• Federal workplace safety officials are investigating a fire at a South Dakota ethanol plant that killed one worker and injured another. (Associated Press)
• Ohio State University is selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to find more efficient ways to turn biomass into synthetic gas. (Columbus Business First)
COMMENTARY: An Illinois bill proposed this week calling for investment in the state’s coal industry “has everything to do with getting re-elected, period.” (Southern Illinoisan)