OHIO: After less than a year on the job, the chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio is expected to resign within the week to take another job out of state. (Columbus Dispatch)
COAL: Ohio-based Murray Energy claims that an update to federal stream-protection rules would effectively end underground coal mining in the U.S. (Midwest Energy News)
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PIPELINES: Consumers advocates in Michigan say a utility’s plan to help develop a natural gas pipeline from Ohio would be a bad deal for its ratepayers and potentially violate a state code. (Midwest Energy News)
SOLAR:
• At its annual shareholders meeting, AEP says it wants to be a leader in solar development in Ohio, but would rather see it grow at utility scale rather than on rooftops. (Columbus Dispatch)
• A city in northwest Illinois will install 125 solar panels on the roof of its city hall. (Telegraph Herald)
• A conservation group says Indiana has one of the worst regulatory environments for solar development in the country. (Associated Press)
OIL AND GAS:
• Due to growth in oil and gas production last year, an Ohio official says the state is getting closer to being energy self-sufficient. (Youngstown Vindicator)
• Tribal officials in the Dakotas plan to meet with a federal official over their concerns with the Dakota Access oil pipeline. (Associated Press)
• North Dakota officials report a spill of about 42 gallons of natural-gas liquids at a gathering pipeline that entered a nearby tributary. (Associated Press)
• Local officials use a zoning ordinance to effectively block a metro Detroit church from drilling for oil on its property. (CBS Detroit)
• After six decades, Exxon loses its “pristine” AAA credit rating. (Associated Press)
WIND: Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley pushes for $15.4 million to be redirected in the Senate’s energy bill toward wind research. (Washington Examiner)
POLITICS: A Republican donor from North Carolina says he will spend seven figures on a digital ad campaign to help re-elect to conservative senators, including Ohio’s Rob Portman, based on clean energy issues. (Reuters)
CLIMATE: New Exxon corporate documents reveal the problem between fossil fuels, carbon emissions and climate change was clearly understood within the company in the 1970s. (DeSmog Blog)
UTILITIES: A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on states’ involvement in wholesale power prices still leaves open-ended questions about incentives for renewable energy across the country and income guarantees in Ohio. (Utility Dive)
OIL BY RAIL: “As the Western Hemisphere’s busiest freight hub,” Chicago remains particularly vulnerable to an oil tanker accident. (Chicago Magazine)
POLLUTION: Ohio-based Murray Energy continues its challenge against the U.S. EPA’s final rule on limiting mercury and other pollutants from power plants. (Associated Press)
EFFICIENCY: Automakers are on track to meet fuel efficiency standards for new vehicles by 2025, though improvements to cars are outpacing those to trucks. (ClimateWire)