Fracking can begin in Illinois, rules to remain secret for now

FRACKING: An Illinois legislative votes unanimously to clear the way for fracking in Illinois, but changes to state regulations will remain a secret for at least another week. (Chicago Tribune)

WISCONSIN: State regulators approve an 83 percent increase in fixed charges for a Green Bay utility, the first in three cases that advocates say is an attempt to disincentivize rooftop solar. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

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GRID: A study by the Minnesota Department of Commerce finds the state could move to 40 percent renewable energy without grid disruptions. (CleanTechnica)

EFFICIENCY: Why low-income Ohioans will bear the brunt of a rollback of the state’s efficiency standards. (Midwest Energy News)

ALSO: A Kansas City holiday tradition becomes more energy efficient. (Kansas City Star)

COAL: The Illinois pollution board rejects a challenge to a permit for the FutureGen 2.0 project, and the EIA says coal supplies are low at power plants across the Midwest. (Springfield State Journal-Register, The Hill)

WIND: Conservative groups work to prevent extension of the production tax credit, and a Canadian study finds no evidence to support health claims from wind turbines. (Greenwire, Canadian Press)

OIL AND GAS:
• Drilling companies scale back North Dakota expansion plans as oil prices drop. (Wall Street Journal)
• The White House declines to comment on whether it would veto a bill forcing approval of Keystone XL. (Politico)
• Members of a North Dakota tribe are hopeful their newly elected leader will better manage oil resources. (Associated Press)
• Public meetings will be held next month on a proposed pipeline across Iowa. (Des Moines Register)
• A drilling company says ​“unleased acreage is scarce” in Ohio’s Utica Shale. (Columbus Business First)
• Activists in Youngstown, Ohio aren’t ruling out a fifth attempt at a fracking ban. (InsideClimate News)

UTILITIES: Ohio regulators have yet to decide on a utility’s polar vortex surcharge, which Toledo officials refuse to pay; Moody’s downplays predictions of a utility ​“death spiral”; and Illinois utilities seek to extend authorization for rate increases for smart grid improvements. (Columbus Business First, Platts, Crain’s Chicago Business)

NATURAL GAS: Alliant Energy proposes a new natural gas power plant in Wisconsin. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

NUCLEAR: A Michigan reactor has been offline for nearly a week because of stormy conditions on Lake Michigan. (MLive)

TRANSMISSION: A developer seeks permission from Iowa officials to build a 500-mile transmission line to export wind energy. (Sioux City Journal)

OHIO: The Ohio Future Energy Tour will discuss energy innovation in the state, with the first stop in Cleveland. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

COMMENTARY: A Wisconsin utility investor group says the solar industry is engaged in an ​“insidious” campaign to ​“keep profiting from freeloading on the electric system.” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)