SOLAR: Utilities, regulators and lawmakers debated a variety of solar policy changes in all but four states last year. (Utility Dive)

ALSO:
• Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist voices support for Maine solar legislation. (Portland Press Herald)
Billions of dollars are at stake in Massachusetts’ solar fight. (ClimateWire)
• The mayor of a Massachusetts city urges state lawmakers to preserve net metering. (Boston Globe)
• Iowa’s two major utilities are seeking a new rate structure for distributed generation that clean energy advocates say would undermine solar producers in the state. (Midwest Energy News)
• A Maryland utility will collaborate with Sunrun to lease solar systems to homeowners. (Baltimore Business Journal)
• An aide to Nevada’s governor says a recent net metering decision “rightly or wrongly” has tarnished the state’s reputation as a clean-energy leader. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

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PIPELINES:
• An industry official says activists “looking for a chink in the armor” are disrupting pipeline approval processes. (Platts)
• Georgia’s legislature approves a temporary moratorium on pipeline projects. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Massachusetts landowners plan to use the Clean Water Act to sue FERC and a pipeline developer to halt a project. (SNL Energy)

CLEAN POWER PLAN: Colorado lawmakers try, and fail, to disrupt funding for Clean Power Plan work in the state. (Denver Post)

COAL:
• The Utah lawmaker behind an effort to help fund a West Coast coal export terminal says the project “actually may be improving the environment” because “Utah has the cleanest coal on the planet.” (KQED)
• A California lawmaker says funding from Utah likely means the Oakland project will move forward, despite local opposition. (San Francisco Business Times)
• Utility coal stockpiles are at their highest level in 25 years. (Houston Chronicle)

COAL ASH:
• Environmental groups sue a Utah utility over coal ash disposal. (Deseret News)
• A Georgia congressman introduces a bill calling for tougher oversight of coal ash disposal. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

WIND: Oregon landowners are receiving between $5 million and $10 million a year in lease payments from wind energy, according to an industry group. (Portland Business Journal)

NUCLEAR: Environmental groups plan to sue a Florida utility over water contamination from the Turkey Point nuclear plant. (New York Times)

OIL AND GAS:
• Pennsylvania lawmakers question whether the state should continue subsidizing natural gas. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
• Environmental groups and the federal government make legal arguments against a federal court’s injunction last year on fracking rules for public and tribal lands. (EnergyWire)
• A Colorado county lifts a six-month moratorium on new drilling. (Denver Post)

ETHANOL: Automakers gradually prepare for the prospect of higher ethanol blends. (Reuters)

GRID:
• In general, utilities are still figuring out whether energy storage is a threat or a business opportunity. (Utility Dive)
• A New York utilities smart meter plan would offer customers energy data on 15-minute intervals. (Greentech Media)

CLIMATE: New U.S. climate czar Jonathan Pershing looks ahead to implementing the Paris agreement. (ClimateWire)

COMMENTARY: Why “West Texas is at the forefront” of the U.S. wind industry. (Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

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Ken Paulman

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

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