SMART METERS: Chicago-based Commonwealth Edison agrees to test whether customers with smart meters are reducing their energy consumption compared to those without the meters. (EnergyWire)

MERGER: Despite opposition from key officials, Washington D.C. regulators approve the $6.8 billion merger between Pepco and Chicago-based Exelon. (Utility Dive)

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WIND:
• A new analysis shows Iowa ranks second in the U.S. for the amount of money paid to landowners through wind turbine leases. (Radio Iowa)
The ongoing battle between developers and property owners over how to move wind energy across Midwestern states raises questions about fairness. (New York Times)

CLIMATE: The Securities and Exchange Commission orders Exxon Mobil to hold a shareholder vote that could require the company to disclose how climate change impacts its profits. (New York Times)

TRANSMISSION: Construction begins on a controversial transmission line from Wyoming to South Dakota that passes through the Black Hills National Forest. (Rapid City Journal)

EMISSIONS: The U.S. EPA says Michigan has missed a deadline to submit plans for reducing sulfur dioxide emissions in a high asthma disease area. (MLive)

COAL: A coal plant in southern Indiana has nearby residents worried about whether its emissions have been curbed. (WEHT-TV)

OIL AND GAS: Federal regulators are investigating whether an Ohio-based oil and gas supplier offered bribes to get business in foreign countries. (Columbus Business First)

BIOFUELS: A prolonged fuel glut has altered the economics for corn-reliant communities across the Midwest. (Bloomberg News)

REGULATION: GOP lawmakers tell EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy to refocus the agency’s efforts away from the Clean Power Plan and onto more basic infrastructure needs. (E&E Daily)

SOLAR:
• Residents living near a planned solar array in Illinois fear the project will stir up contaminated soil. (Southern Illinoisan)
• Statewide solar incentives across the country begin to expire as states grapple with tight budgets. (Associated Press)

COAL: The combined market value of publicly traded U.S. coal companies continues to erode. (SNL/Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis)

COMMENTARY:
• Michigan can become more competitive, decrease emissions and lower costs for all ratepayers by embracing cogeneration. (Lansing State Journal)
Conservatives look to appeal to a younger generation by embracing clean energy. (Midwest Energy News)

Andy compiles the Midwest Energy News digest and was a journalism fellow for Midwest Energy News from 2014-2020. He is managing editor of MiBiz in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and was formerly a reporter and editor at City Pulse, Lansing’s alternative newsweekly.

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