To clear air at parks, Minnesota coal plant to cut emissions

NET METERING: Ohio regulators are considering limitations to the state’s net metering rules that could resolve a utility’s Supreme Court challenge. (Midwest Energy News)

POLLUTION:
• A Minnesota utility agrees to cut coal plant emissions to reduce haze at nearby national parks. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
• Medical groups say Indiana regulators are pushing back against federal pollution rules at the expense of public health. (Indianapolis Star)

***SPONSORED LINK: EPA’s section 111(D) is driving generation and transmission in MISO. Infocast’s MISO Market Summit 2015 will bring policy-makers together with utility, IPP and DR executives to explore the opportunities to solve reliability and power market problems.***

OIL AND GAS:
• A drilling CEO pressed for the dismissal of Oklahoma scientists studying links between oil and gas activity and earthquakes, according to an email archive. (Bloomberg)
• A wastewater disposal well near the site of Oklahoma’s largest earthquake may have been drilled too deep. (EnergyWire)
• Experts say much of Michigan’s future natural gas supply will come from out of state. (Associated Press)

PIPELINES: A Michigan pipeline project is moving forward despite a township’s opposition. (MLive)

SOLAR:
• Michigan regulators grant conditional approval for the state’s first utility community solar program. (Crain’s Detroit Business)
• Construction of Minnesota’s largest solar project -- 100 MW across up to 24 sites -- could begin this fall. (Rochester Post-Bulletin)
• An Illinois town will unveil a new solar system that will help power its recreational facilities. (Edwardsville Intelligencer)
• Solar advocates file their arguments in a challenge to a Wisconsin regulatory decision allowing higher fixed charges for solar customers. (Milwaukee Biz Times)
• Solar panels will help power a new St. Paul baseball stadium. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
• Construction begins on a solar project at a Michigan National Guard base. (MLive)

GRID: Invenergy completes a new 31 MW storage facility connected to Illinois solar and wind generators. (PV Tech)

KANSAS: Environmental groups are concerned industry interests won’t hold up their end of a deal that ended the state’s renewable energy standard. (Lawrence Journal-World)

UTILITIES:
• Exelon’s bid to acquire an East Coast utility is approved by Maryland regulators, advocates fear the merger will slow solar growth. (The Hill, Bloomberg)
• Wisconsin Energy’s proposed acquisition of Integrys Energy Group gets a favorable response from an Illinois administrative law judge. (Crain’s Chicago Business)

TRANSMISSION:
• Wisconsin groups petition for a new hearing for a transmission project approved by regulators last month. (La Crosse Tribune)
• Completion of a major new Minnesota transmission upgrade had a major impact on some landowners who opted to be bought out. (St. Cloud Times)

***SPONSORED LINK: Join the nation’s most successful women leaders in energy as they share their industry knowledge, strategies and experiences at the Leadership Conference for Women in Energy, June 2-3 in Indianapolis.***

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The Michigan plant that produces batteries for the Chevy Volt is hiring more workers. (AutoBlog)

BIOENERGY: A perennial grass crop at a Cedar Rapids airport will help power the University of Iowa’s power plant. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)