SMART GRID: As smart meter usage expands, so do questions about the ways utilities and other companies can harness energy data to advance grid technology while still protecting consumer privacy. (Midwest Energy News)

WIND: The CEO of Xcel Energy discusses the increasing role of renewables in its generation mix and why wind will be its largest energy source by 2021. (Utility Dive)

SOLAR:
• Local officials celebrate the installation of solar panels at five of six fire stations in Dubuque, Iowa. (Dubuque Telegraph Herald)
• A Nebraska City Council approves electric rates for residents who want to participate in a community solar project. (Fremont Tribune)
• A company is in talks with an Iowa community about installing solar panels on the roof of a public works building as a way to reduce the city’s energy costs. (Associated Press)
• Bankrupt company SunEdison lays off six more employees in Missouri. (St. Louis Business Journal)

NUCLEAR:
• The decommissioning process at a Wisconsin nuclear plant that closed in 2013 “sets a new benchmark for the complete transfer of all used fuel to dry storage after plant shut-down.” (World Nuclear News)
• U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry says the threat of cyber attacks on U.S. nuclear plants is “real” and “ongoing.” (Associated Press)

COAL: The recent wave of coal bankruptcies has produced a “somewhat ironic” effect: Those that went through the process are now the strongest in the sector, and those that avoided it now face tougher competition. (SNL)

EFFICIENCY: City Council members in Toledo, Ohio unanimously approve a pilot program for LED street lighting in three areas of the city. (Toledo Blade)

OIL AND GAS: A lightning strike caused the contained release of nearly 3,200 gallons of oil at a saltwater disposal well in western North Dakota. (Associated Press)

EMISSIONS: U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt says the agency will treat automakers attempting to cheat diesel emissions rules “very aggressively.” (Reuters)

COMMENTARY: An editorial board says there is reason to believe the revised merger plan between Westar Energy and Great Plains Energy is a “better one for ratepayers than the one the two companies proposed last year.” (Lawrence Journal-World)