U.S. solar capacity has grown 400 percent since 2010

CLIMATE: Exelon says it has met its climate goals 7 years early, but warns of financial challenges for its nuclear fleet. (ClimateWire)

SOLAR: U.S. solar capacity has grown 400 percent since 2010, and is increasingly backed by Tea Party conservatives. (ClimateWire, Slate)

***SPONSORED LINK: Join the conversation, expand your network and meet face-to-face with key solar industry players at the Midwest Solar Expo on May 16 at the Hilton Minneapolis. Sponsor this event and become a strategic player in the expanding Midwest solar market.***

MICHIGAN: The CEO of CMS, parent company of Consumers Energy, says he believes the legislature will expand the state’s renewable energy standard in 2015. (Platts)

ALSO: Experts say retail choice programs like Michigan’s are good for large companies, but not for individual ratepayers. (MLive)

FRACKING: A major supplier of fracking fluid says it will disclose all of the chemicals it uses -- but there’s a caveat. (Associated Press)

OIL: North Dakota tribes aim to cut flaring in half, drilling opponents in Michigan say they’ll make it ​“as uncomfortable as possible” for oil companies, and DOT officials say new safety standards for shipping oil by rail will be coming soon. (Fargo Forum, MLive)

COAL: Peabody Energy reports a $44 million loss; Akron, Ohio will shut down a coal-powered boiler in a settlement over air quality violations; and Ohio landowners sue a coal mining company for pollution. (Akron Beacon Journal, Athens Messenger)

NATURAL GAS: A fire at a Wyoming natural gas processing plant continues to burn, but analysts say the supply disruption will be minimal. (Reuters)

***SPONSORED LINK: Register today ($15/​individual) for the 15th Anniversary Conference of Wisconsin Interfaith Power & Light ​“Climate Stewardship: Sustainability, Eco-Justice and Well-Being” on May 18 in Milwaukee. Keynote, workshops, exhibits and more. Be a sponsor, $100-$1,000.***

KEYSTONE XL: Behind the scenes at the ​“spirit camp” erected by Sioux leaders to protest the Keystone XL pipeline, a protest that is being mocked in oil industry ads. (National Journal, Omaha World-Herald)

COMMENTARY: Wisconsin can still be a clean energy leader, and why conservative opposition to transmission lines ​“makes no sense.” (Midwest Energy News, St. Louis Post-Dispatch)