Minnesota moves forward as if Clean Power Plan stay ​‘never happened’

OHIO:
• FirstEnergy proposes a compromise settlement in its income-guarantee request, though challengers still say it would give subsidies to certain customer classes over others. (Midwest Energy News)
• FirstEnergy is requesting certain legislative history and public comments, including testimony about its earlier support for competition, be struck from the case. (Midwest Energy News)

CLEAN POWER PLAN: Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is pressing on with a clean energy plan ​“as though the (Supreme Court’s stay) never happened.” (Minnesota Public Radio)

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SOLAR: Following decisions in California and Nevada, solar net metering faces an uncertain fate in more than 25 states across the country. (Reuters)

WIND:
• Plans for a 40-turbine wind project in mid-Michigan that has been mired in legal battles for years appear to have been canceled. (Lansing State Journal)
• By the end of 2017, wind is slated to overtake hydropower as the leading source of renewable energy generation in the U.S. (Utility Dive)

OIL AND GAS: Former Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon is indicted on charges of conspiring to rig bids for oil and gas leases in northwest Oklahoma. (Associated Press)

COAL:
• U.S. senators from Ohio and West Virginia look to preserve pension benefits for retired coal miners. (The Intelligencer/​Wheeling News-Register)
• Recent filings show Peabody Energy moving closer to bankruptcy. (SNL/​Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis)
• Peabody’s future appears to hinge on the sale of three coal mines. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• Concerns over mine cleanup are spiking amid the industry downturn. (Greenwire)
• A company looks to seal off a mine in Illinois to stop a fire that has smoldered for a year. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

PIPELINES:
• Recent documents renew questions about the safety of the southern route of the Keystone XL pipeline. (DeSmogBlog)
• Two members of Congress want the federal government to halt plans to move crude oil through 98-year-old pipeline beneath a river between Michigan and Canada. (WMTV)

UTILITIES: Michigan’s attorney general looks to limit DTE Energy’s proposed rate increase on residential customers. (WXYZ-TV)

RENEWABLES: The head of NRG Energy looks to refine the company’s approach to renewable energy development. (EnergyWire)

NATURAL GAS: Gas-fired plants generated more electricity than coal did in seven months of 2015. (Utility Dive)

NUCLEAR: The relationship between the federal government and a controversial uranium enrichment company with ties to Ohio will be under the microscope in Congress this week. (E&E Daily)

MERGERS:
• Washington D.C.‘s mayor and a ratepayer advocacy group object to new terms in the proposed Exelon/​Pepco merger. (RTO Insider)
• Two electric cooperatives serving customers in Minnesota and Iowa consider merging. (Winona Daily News)

COMMENTARY:
• Expanding Michigan’s energy efficiency standard is the ​“most effective and common-sense way to keep energy costs down.” (MLive)
• Continuing to plan a Clean Power Plan strategy in Michigan would be a waste of taxpayer dollars. (Detroit News)