RENEWABLES: A clean energy group in Missouri is challenging utilities over how they comply with the state’s renewable energy standard. (Midwest Energy News)

ALSO:
• Residents in South Bend, Indiana push city officials to be more aggressive in transitioning to renewable energy. (WNDU-TV)
• Xcel Energy is named in a new report as one of the leading utilities in the U.S. in supplying renewable energy. (GreenBiz)
• DTE Energy outlines plans for investing in more renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions. (Crain’s Detroit Business)

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SOLAR:
• The growth of community solar in Minnesota is “bigger than anyone ever anticipated, and bigger things are coming.” (ClimateWire)
• A Minnesota county board will discuss settling a lawsuit with a former county official over his ties to a solar company that had vied for a contract to install solar panels on a government building. (Winona Post)
• A new industry poll shows more than 75 percent of Illinois residents oppose demand charges on electric bills and support net metering policies. (Energy Manager Today)

OIL AND GAS:
• North Dakota is in a “very precarious” budgeting situation by having to predict slumping oil and agriculture commodity prices. (Forum News Service)
• A final investment decision on a second ethane cracker plant in Ohio will be made early next year. (Pittsburgh Business Times)
• A pair of West Michigan entrepreneurs create a gas-powered, on-site generation system that aims to undercut utilities with cheaper electricity costs. (MiBiz)

UTILITIES: Two former Ohio utility regulators debate proposed power-purchase agreements from FirstEnergy and AEP. (RTO Insider)

WIND:
• Illinois landowners are suing the developer of a wind project, claiming they are owed money for access roads built on their property and for damage to their land during construction. (Ford County Record)
• The wind industry looks to gain ground in Nebraska. (KETV)

FRAC SAND: Wisconsin frac sand mining companies’ stocks are rebounding after a dismal past year and a half. (Wisconsin Public Radio)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Tesla partners with a hotel company to bring electric vehicle charging stations to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

NUCLEAR: Officials say a sheen on Lake Ontario came from an oil leak at a nearby nuclear plant, though the plant operator says it’s not hazardous and has low potential health effects. (Associated Press)

OIL BY RAIL: More than 5,000 first responders across Minnesota have been trained in responding to derailed oil trains. (Minnesota Public Radio)

GRID: Two sides reach an agreement over how to redesign the capacity auction process in grid operator MISO’s footprint, though concerns remain over a projected capacity shortfall. (RTO Insider)

VOLKSWAGEN SCANDAL: The German automaker reaches a $14.7 billion settlement in the class action lawsuit stemming from its cheating emissions tests. (Associated Press)

DIVESTMENT: The fossil fuel industry appears to be ramping up its campaign against divestment advocates. (ClimateWire)