GEOTHERMAL: Ohio University geologists study the potential to repurpose abandoned coal mines for geothermal energy projects. (Energy News Network)

OHIO: A Republican state lawmaker reintroduces a bill to repeal the state’s power plant subsidy law at the heart of a $60 million bribery scandal. (Associated Press)

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PIPELINES:
• A federal judge says Enbridge can proceed with construction on the Line 3 pipeline, a week after a state appeals court issued a similar ruling in a challenge from environmental groups and tribes. (MPR News)
• Local business owners share concerns with lawmakers from North and South Dakota about the cancelation of the Keystone XL pipeline. (KELO)
• Pipeline activists launch a new campaign to put pressure on financial institutions that are funding the Line 3 pipeline replacement. (Common Dreams)
• A two-member panel spent nearly $500,000 on consulting contracts, largely out of public view, to help guide a tunnel project for the Line 5 pipeline in Michigan. (Michigan Advance)

SOLAR:
• Clean energy groups say Ameren’s proposed plan for compensating solar customers who send power back to the grid is “overly complex and opaque, flawed, and too narrowly focused.” (Solar Power World)
• Developers unveil plans for a 49 MW solar project in northwestern Ohio. (Bryan Times)
• Indianapolis Power & Light plans to acquire a 195 MW solar project that’s expected to be completed in 2023. (Inside Indiana Business)

OIL & GAS: North Dakota mineral owners are seeing a reduction in oil and gas royalty payments as producers take deductions to move the products down the processing chain. (Bismarck Tribune)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: University of Chicago researchers find electric vehicles are driven significantly less than vehicles with internal combustion engines, perhaps because some drivers see them as complements rather than substitutes for gasoline cars. (Utility Dive)

CLEAN TECH: U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell has reintroduced legislation to create a Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator that would leverage public dollars for various clean energy projects. (PV Magazine)

COAL: Proposed North Dakota legislation would reduce the state’s coal conversion tax by 60% and impose a lignite research tax. (Williston Herald)

POLICY: Former Gov. Jennifer Granholm would be the second recent top official from Michigan to lead the U.S. Energy Department. (Great Lakes Echo)

NUCLEAR: Exelon officials say the company’s fleet of Illinois nuclear plants continue to provide a large portion of the state’s carbon-free power and are reducing the length of refueling outages. (Clinton Herald)

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GRID: Michigan regulators establish a new workgroup to study rate design issues associated with distributed energy resources. (Daily Energy Insider)

COMMENTARY:
• A Michigan clean fuels advocate says the state has a chance to be a national leader with greater investments in alternative fuel trucks, cars, buses and clean power. (Holland Sentinel)
• Higher octane fuels with ethanol blends would allow automakers to increase fuel economy and reduce carbon emissions, says former longtime U.S. Senator Tom Daschle. (Roll Call)