GRID:
• As policymakers in Ohio and elsewhere look to modernize their aging electric grid, concepts in Germany’s changing energy system suggest how today’s decisions can set the stage for a greater share of renewables and more energy security. (Midwest Energy News)
• Missouri lawmakers speak out against proposed rate increases to pay for grid upgrades. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

CLEAN ENERGY:
• Minnesota’s first statewide director of sustainability discusses opportunities with solar and efficiency. (Midwest Energy News)
• A Wisconsin university is recognized by the U.S. EPA for its commitment to clean energy. (Portage County Gazette)

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SOLAR:
• The Department of Energy’s SunShot goal to bring solar prices down to $1 per watt, once thought overly aspirational, has been achieved three years early. (Greentech Media)
• An Ohio county seeks more residential input for a solar cooperative program. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

COAL:
• Utility officials are still looking to sell a former coal plant in west Michigan for redevelopment purposes. (MLive)
• Illinois is not among the states suing against Obama administration stream-protection rules. (Illinois News Network)
• Experts say weakening environmental regulations won’t help to revive the coal industry, because it’s “being pounded by market forces.” (CNN Money)

UTILITIES: Michigan-based DTE Energy says it spent $1.3 billion on Michigan-based companies for projects. (Associated Press)

GRID: The CEO of the Mid-Continent Independent System Operator expects to see “a lot more intermittency” in the region’s generation fleet. (Platts)

CLIMATE:
• Federal officials say U.S. EPA employees have been told to stand down from scrubbing climate change information from the agency’s website. (Greenwire)
• Some states are moving forward with Clean Power Plan compliance plans amid federal energy policy uncertainty. (NPR)

PIPELINES: Rural Wisconsin residents are speaking out against pipeline expansion plans. (WiscNews)

BIOFUEL: BNSF Railway will offer discounts of $300 per carload to shippers who use safer train cars to transport ethanol. (Reuters)

EMISSIONS: A once well-known professional sports dome in Detroit is reused as a site store faulty Volkwswagen cars. (WWJ-TV)

COMMENTARY: Indiana’s relationship with coal is “complicated.” (NUVO)