Enbridge plans $28 billion acquisition of Texas gas firm

GRID: A major obstacle to increasing the renewable portfolio of the eastern grid is upgraded transmission that can move wind energy from the Midwest, according to a new report. (Midwest Energy News)

CLEAN POWER PLAN:
• Documents show how fossil-fuel companies, Republican attorneys general and the association ​“dedicated to re-electing them” are aligned in a legal attack against the federal Clean Power Plan. (Bloomberg)
• Grid operator PJM says states could lose fewer coal plants and reduce costs if they work together to comply with the federal Clean Power Plan. (Columbus Business First)

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MERGER: In seeking to upstage Kinder Morgan, pipeline company Enbridge acquires Spectra Energy in a $28 billion all-stock deal. (Forbes, Reuters)

PIPELINES:
• Dakota Access opponents say the developer still hasn’t received permission for an easement to cross a federal dam and reservoir in South Dakota. (Greenwire)
• A judge orders a temporary halt to construction in parts of North Dakota, and will also rule by the end of the week on permits granted by federal regulators. (Associated Press)
• Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein may face charges for spray painting graffiti on a bulldozer during a Dakota Access protest. (Forum News Service)
• The oil company led by Donald Trump’s energy advisor, Harold Hamm, plans to use the Dakota Access pipeline to move its resources from North Dakota. (DeSmog Blog)
• Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad says state regulators were ​“reasonable and fair” in approving the state’s portion of the project. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

EFFICIENCY: Xcel Energy will start a new program this week to convert tens of thousands of streetlights across Minnesota to LEDs. (WCCO-TV)

NUCLEAR: As nuclear reactors close, a lobbying group to maintain the industry known as the ​“Dead Plants Society” grows. (Greenwire)

BIOFUELS: The largest-of-its-kind ethanol plant in Ohio will undergo $1.2 million in modernization upgrades. (Dayton Business Journal)

SOLAR: A secret solar society made up of industry leaders has been plotting how to make solar the dominant source of energy for the last 14 years. (EnergyWire)

OIL AND GAS: Ohio officials say a planned ethane cracker plant in nearby Pennsylvania will have spillover economic benefits. (Pittsburgh Business Times)

COAL:
• Retiring coal plants in the Great Lakes region also means less stress on the area’s water resources. (Circle of Blue)
• U.S. Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio hopes to sway Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to support a bill on restoring retired coal miners’ pensions. (WKSU)

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FRACKING:
• The U.S. Geological Survey forecasts an increased risk of ​“significant damage” to homes and structures this year in areas of Oklahoma and Kansas where earthquakes are induced by injecting fracking wastewater underground. (Forbes)
• The U.S. EPA will order shut wastewater injection wells near the epicenter of a 5.6-magnitude earthquake in Oklahoma over the weekend. (Reuters)

COMMENTARY: Mainstream media reporters are missing the boom in clean-energy job growth in the U.S. (Greentech Media)