FRACKING: Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signs a bill to regulate fracking in the state, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich revises his drilling tax proposal but is still unable to gain support from fellow Republicans in the legislature. (Chicago Tribune, Columbus Business First)

FRAC SAND: Railroads are key to the growth of frac sand mining in Minnesota and Wisconsin, as the sand can’t be shipped long-distance by truck economically; and a Wisconsin county will vote tomorrow on a proposed sand mining ban along a scenic stretch of Mississippi River bluffs. (EnergyWire, Rochester Post-Bulletin)

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COAL: Developers of a failed Minnesota clean-coal project won’t have to make payments on $9.5 million in state loans. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

POLITICS: A review of disclosure forms finds one-third of U.S. senators have direct investments in energy firms, and a House bill would cut federal renewable energy spending in half. (E&E Daily, The Hill)

SOLAR: Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz pledges to keep moving forward on solar, saying: “the scale and time frame of impact of solar technology, I believe, is underestimated.” (The Hill)

OIL: In an unprecedented move, a North Dakota county zoning board declines to make a recommendation on a proposed oil waste landfill; and the U.S. becomes a net gasoline exporter for the first time in 50 years. (Bismarck Tribune, Kansas City Star)

NUCLEAR: Michigan’s Palisades nuclear plant is up and running again after a repairs are made following a leak of radioactive water into Lake Michigan, and the Perry nuclear plant in Ohio is shut down to repair a coolant leak. (MLive.com, Cleveland Plain Dealer)

BIOFUELS: The leader of an Iowa ethanol industry group says he’s “optimistic” that more gas stations will begin carrying E15. (Des Moines Register)

TECHNOLOGY: A wind-to-hydrogen plant, similar to a project proposed in Minnesota, is up and running in Germany; and a group of Minnesota inventors, led by actor/writer Rich Kronfeld, develops a prototype for a hybrid bicycle/electric commuter car. (Houston Chronicle, Minneapolis Star Tribune)

ICYMI: Still unclear on how capacity markets work? Here’s an explainer. (Midwest Energy News)

COMMENTARY: The weaknesses of nuclear power are economic, not environmental. (Quartz)

CLIMATE: President Obama has been telling attendees at fundraisers that he plans to unveil a climate plan next month. (Bloomberg)

ALSO: The White House so far leaves a key climate policy tool on the table, the president says environmental activists are too focused on Keystone XL, ExxonMobil’s CEO calls climate change “a risk management problem,” and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz explains climate science to a GOP congressman: “I know how to count.” (Reuters, Bloomberg, Cleveland Plain Dealer, ClimateProgress)

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NUCLEAR: As aging nuclear plants shut down, Xcel Energy plans to spend $1.8 billion to keep two Minnesota reactors running; and contrary to the company’s official news release blaming wind, an Exelon executive says cheap natural gas is to blame for derailing the company’s nuclear upgrades. (New York Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Forbes)

FRACKING: Illinois’ fracking bill creates a rift among environmental groups. (InsideClimate News)

COAL: The coal industry pins its hopes on exports, and new water pollution rules are expected to have a significant impact along the Ohio River. (New York Times, Columbus Dispatch)

OIL: Amid a major pipeline expansion, Enbridge adds more employees to its offices in downtown Duluth; and pipelines vs. rail is a more complicated question than it appears. (Duluth News Tribune, EnergyWire)

TRANSPORTATION: A French all-electric car sharing service will make its U.S. debut in Indianapolis. (WRTV)

WIND: After a series of mechanical failures, the first wind turbine to be owned by a public utility is up and running again. (Traverse City Record-Eagle)

THE GREAT OUTDOORS: Wisconsin’s DNR works to meet increasing demand for electricity at state park campgrounds. (Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism)

COMMENTARY: How a recent court ruling could pose a threat to state renewable standards, and why the shale boom could end sooner than you think. (Christian Science Monitor, Forbes)

COAL: A Minnesota economic development board plans to restructure a $9.5 million loan it made years ago for Mesabi Energy Project, a proposed coal-to-gas plant that has yet to begin construction. (Duluth News Tribune)

EFFICIENCY: A closer look at how energy efficiency scores will be incorporated into Minnesota real estate listings. (Midwest Energy News)

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OIL: The U.S. Justice Department and the state of Arkansas file a joint lawsuit against Exxon over the Mayflower pipeline spill. (Reuters)

FRAC SAND: Developers of a proposed frac sand facility voluntarily withdraw their permit and agree to alter their plans after facing strong public opposition at a Wisconsin town meeting. (Winona Daily News)

FRACKING: Local officials in Michigan raise questions about whether proper procedures and safeguards are in place after a drilling operation runs out of water and begins purchasing millions of gallons from nearby towns, more than 100 people pack a public forum on fracking in Michigan, and an Illinois landowner welcomes what could be the state’s first large-scale horizontal fracking operation. (Traverse City Record-Eagle, MLive.com, AgriNews)

NATURAL GAS: Developers of a new natural gas plant near Toledo say it could eventually double in size if demand warrants. (Toledo Blade)

GRID: Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz says he’s developing a cybersecurity council within the Department of Energy to better protect against electronic threats to infrastructure. (The Hill)

CLIMATE: Although the proposal stands little chance of advancing, a Senate panel plans to take up a carbon tax bill later this summer. (The Hill)

WIND: An Oklahoma tribe objects to plans to grant a wind farm an incidental take permit for up to three bald eagle deaths per year. (Reuters)

WASTE-TO-ENERGY: A methane burner is now up and running at the wastewater treatment plant in Winona, Minnesota, part of the town’s broader effort to reduce energy consumption. (Winona Daily News)

BIOMASS: An Ohio company says “roasting” organic materials can produce a low-emission substitute for coal. (Crain’s Cleveland Business)

TRANSPORTATION: A study finds the lifetime costs of electric cars are comparable to their gasoline counterparts. (GreenTech Media)

ETHANOL: An industry-backed study says there is no direct link between the Renewable Fuel Standard and higher food prices. (Des Moines Register)

COMMENTARY: The high cost of coal gasification, and the coming U.S. distributed solar boom. (Forbes, GreenTech Media)

NUCLEAR: Exelon drops plans for upgrades at two nuclear plants, including one in Illinois, citing market conditions and competition from wind energy. (Greenwire)

POLITICS: Sen. Lisa Murkowski says an energy efficiency bill will reach the Senate floor “very shortly,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce backs proposed legislation to streamline energy development on tribal lands, and the White House’s new regulatory nominee vows to speed up energy reviews. (Houston Chronicle, Associated Press, New York Times)

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OIL: Demand for oil in the developing world has surpassed that of wealthy nations for the first time. (Reuters)

ALSO: North Dakota towns cope with noise from increased rail traffic while state officials study whether oil field waste can be used to mitigate dust on rural roads, and a worker is injured in an explosion at a Michigan drilling site. (Dickinson Press, Fargo Forum, MLive.com)

COAL: A look inside Duke’s new Edwardsport, Indiana coal gasification plant, the largest facility of its type in the world. (Indianapolis Star)

MINNESOTA: Great River Energy says rates won’t increase in 2014 amid “a dramatic turnaround” in electricity demand. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

OHIO: A new $1 billion pipe mill opens in Youngstown, Ohio to support oil and gas operations in the U.S. and Canada. (Youngstown Vindicator)

TRANSPORTATION: Local officials lobby for federal spending on high speed rail in Illinois. (Decatur Herald & Review)

SOLAR: Wisconsin researchers develop a solar cell that can also store energy. (Forbes)

COMMENTARY: Is Keystone XL the “Kim Kardashian of energy“? (Christian Science Monitor)

RENEWABLES: A recent court decision says it is unconstitutional for Michigan to only allow electricity produced within the state to count toward its renewable energy standard. (Greenwire)

FARM BILL: The U.S. Senate passed a farm bill Monday with reduced funding for energy programs; the future of those programs still is yet to be determined. (Midwest Energy News)

SOLAR: 723 megawatts of new solar was installed in the U.S. in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 33 percent over the same period last year. (Reuters)

COAL: The Interior Department is failing to collect tens of millions of dollars in lease payments from coal mining on federal lands, according to an inspector general’s report. (New York Times)

NUCLEAR: Two new reactors in Georgia could determine the fate of the U.S. nuclear industry; a Minnesota nuclear plant makes progress in addressing flooding concerns; and FirstEnergy moves ahead with plans to replace steam generators at its Davis-Besse plant, a project expected to cost “in the hundreds of millions of dollars.” (New York Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Toledo Blade)

CLIMATE: Ohio-based American Electric Power tops a list of the country’s worst carbon polluters, Senate Democrats coordinate with the White House on climate strategy, and an Oklahoma congressman wants to cut funding for climate research and spend it on weather forecasting. (Forbes, The Hill)

WIND: A new 100-turbine wind farm is planned in Indiana, and Michigan-bound wind turbine components will share space with tourists aboard the S.S. Badger throughout the summer. (Muncie Star Press, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

OIL: The Sierra Club sues over the Keystone XL review process, which it says is “plagued by conflicts of interest”; and North Dakota teachers tour the Oil Patch. (Huffington Post, Fargo Forum)

FRACKING: Amish farmers in Ohio, whose religion forbids them from using the court system, struggle to negotiate the process of drilling leases. (New Republic)

MEANWHILE: American Indian leaders say bureaucracy remains the biggest hurdle preventing energy development on tribal lands. (Associated Press)

TRANSPORTATION: The Department of Energy pegs the cost of fueling an electric car at the equivalent of $1.14 a gallon. (USA Today)

TECHNOLOGY: Honeywell develops a thermostat that can be controlled across entire municipalities, South Sioux City, Nebraska, will be the first to test it. (St. Paul Pioneer Press)

COMMENTARY: The dream of nuclear electricity “too cheap to meter” is dead. (SmartPlanet)

OHIO: Results of a recent capacity auction show northern Ohio consumers will save millions of dollars in coming years, thanks to state energy efficiency requirements. (Midwest Energy News)

COAL: After years of controversy and cost overruns, Duke Energy’s Edwardsport, Indiana coal gasification plant is up and running. (Indianapolis Star)

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FRACKING: The EIA says the shale boom has increased recoverable oil and gas reserves in the U.S. by 35 percent since 2011, and a prominent ecologist denounces “compromise-oriented environmental organizations” for backing tougher fracking regulations in Illinois instead of an outright ban. (The Hill, Yes Magazine)

NATURAL GAS: A Colorado State University study will attempt to measure methane emissions from pipelines and other facilities. (Fort Collins Coloradoan)

EFFICIENCY: New low-cost LED bulbs change the lighting game, and a three-year effort in Detroit was able to improve efficiency in 84 buildings and 15 million square feet of commercial space. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Model D Media)

POLITICS: An inspector general report finds nepotism is “open and widely accepted” within the Energy Department. (Washington Post)

WIND: Can wind turbines withstand an EF-5 tornado? (Sustainable Business)

NUCLEAR: How the closure of a California nuclear plant differs from the shutdown of Wisconsin’s Kewaunee plant. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

WASTE-TO-ENERGY: Despite publicly rejecting the project, city officials in Cleveland continue to pursue a permit for a waste-to-energy plant. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

WATER: Low water levels on the Great Lakes continue to impact shipping of coal and other commodities. (New York Times)

COMMENTARY: Debunking the myth that electric cars aren’t really “green” compared to gasoline counterparts. (The Energy Collective)

CLIMATE: Global carbon emissions set a record in 2012, putting us on a “difficult and dangerous trajectory,” according to the IEA. (Washington Post)

SOLAR: Are solar customers freeloaders? Or providing an undervalued benefit to the grid? Minnesota’s new solar law may settle that question once and for all. (Midwest Energy News)

ALSO: Community solar financing generates a lot of interest at a Michigan energy fair, and new solar panels help take an Ohio art museum off the grid on sunny days. (CBS Detroit, Toledo Blade)

COAL: The sale of five Illinois coal plants will proceed even after regulators ruled a five-year waiver of emission limits can’t be part of the deal, and state officials say a Minnesota utility doesn’t need to conduct an environmental review before making pollution upgrades to one of its coal plants. (Springfield State Journal-Register, Duluth News Tribune)

FRACKING: An Ohio county sees limited benefits from the drilling boom, and a railroad is upgrading tracks in western Wisconsin to carry heavy frac sand loads. (Columbus Dispatch, Rochester Post-Bulletin)

WIND: The wind farm intended to be the primary beneficiary of a new set of tax breaks recently approved in Nebraska is still not a sure thing. (Omaha World-Herald)

TRANSMISSION: A federal court rejects a challenge to a cost-sharing plan for $5.2 billion in Midwest transmission upgrades. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

EFFICIENCY: Energy information will now be available on some residential real estate listings in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and a Minnesota manufacturer of variable-tint glass ships its first large order and is moving toward full production. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

OIL: Gasoline prices in the Midwest are expected to remain high for several weeks following refinery outages, and FERC rules that Enbridge can reject crude oil with high levels of sulfide gas from its pipelines. (Reuters)

COMMENTARY: In Wisconsin, “it appears policymakers want the state to remain dependent on fossil fuels“; and why mpg may not be the best way to measure a car’s efficiency. (Madison Capital Times, Washington Post)

OIL: North Dakota’s Bakken Shale will need costly, advanced oil recovery strategies in order to tap its full potential over the next few decades, researchers and industry officials say. (EnergyWire)

ALSO: Pipeline CEOs say they will work to restore public trust in their industry, and Detroit’s infamous petroleum coke pile will be burned in a Canadian power plant. (Calgary Herald, New York Times)

COAL: The Indiana Supreme Court wades into the controversy over the proposed Rockport coal-to-gas plant, Illinois regulators refuse to allow the new owner of five coal plants to delay pollution controls, and former coal plants in Ohio are being retrofitted to help stabilize the grid. (Evansville Courier & Press, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Cleveland Plain Dealer)

NUCLEAR: Upgrades are ordered for 31 U.S. reactors that have designs similar to Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant, and utility officials solve the mystery of how goldfish wound up inside an Ohio nuclear plant. (Minneapolis Star Tribune, Cleveland Plain Dealer)

POLICY: Some in the wind industry fear conservatives’ support for extending master limited partnerships to renewable energy is part of an effort to undercut the production tax credit, and Colorado doubles its renewable energy standard for rural co-ops. (Politico, Denver Post)

CLIMATE: Cook County, Illinois sets a goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050, as part of a process aimed at saving millions on energy costs; and a new study says U.S. responsibility for cutting emissions is three times greater than China’s. (Associated Press, Chicago Sun-Times, Bloomberg)

EFFICIENCY: A bill in the U.S. Senate would allow lenders to consider an efficient home’s lower energy costs when calculating mortgages. (New York Times)

TECHNOLOGY: A Wisconsin firm receives $45 million to help develop plug-in hybrid trucks. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

COMMENTARY: Energy scholar Vaclav Smil is urged to “come down from Contrary Mountain, pick up a shovel, and help us get this job done.” (Greentech Media)

SOLAR: As Minnesota brings more solar power online, will Xcel Energy still need the three new natural gas peaking plants it’s proposing to build? (Midwest Energy News)

CLIMATE: The Obama Administration has increased its estimate of the social cost of carbon, from $22 to $36 per ton, and a conservative group launches a pre-emptive campaign to head off support for a carbon tax. (Washington Post, The Hill)

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WIND: Michigan lawmakers propose tough restrictions on offshore wind in the Great Lakes. (Traverse City Record-Eagle)

KEYSTONE XL: TransCanada is already digging up sections of the first leg of Keystone XL for repair, and a group of scientists says the State Department’s review findings on the project are “without merit in many critical areas.” (InsideClimate News)

ALSO: An industry study projects Canada’s oil output will double by 2030 if pipeline capacity is expanded, and environmental groups oppose plans to convert an Ohio refinery to process Canadian oil sands crude. (Bloomberg, Toledo Blade)

FRACKING: A Michigan fracking operation runs low on water, forcing it to truck in supplies from nearby towns. (MLive.com)

GRID: Illinois regulators will hold ComEd liable for damages resulting from a string of power outages in 2011. (Chicago Tribune)

FRAC SAND: Wisconsin’s departing frac sand regulator sees no signs that the boom will slow. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

TECHNOLOGY: An East Coast startup says its energy storage batteries will eventually be competitive with natural gas. (MIT Technology Review)

BIOFUELS: Republicans say the federal biofuel mandate is harming the economy. (The Hill)

WISCONSIN: A Wisconsin electric co-op warms to solar power: “You can view it as a threat or as something you need to be a part of.” (LaCrosse Tribune)

COMMENTARY: Waste-to-energy is cleaner than you think, and a renewable energy group takes issue with the idea that Master Limited Partnerships are “lousy” energy policy. (MinnPost, Midwest Energy News)

WIND: Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman signs wind energy tax breaks into law, a measure that he had earlier threatened to veto. (Omaha World-Herald)

GRID: As the Midwest faces more coal plant retirements, the region’s primary grid operator considers a longer-term planning outlook. (Midwest Energy News)

MICHIGAN: DTE Energy has been able to cut operating costs while meeting Michigan’s renewable energy benchmarks, and announces it will lower its renewable energy rate surcharge from $3 to 43 cents. (MLive.com)

COAL: Like Illinois, Indiana coal producers consider ramping up exports in response to declining domestic demand; and a bill in the U.S. House would override EPA coal ash regulations. (Platts, The Hill)

FRACKING: Major oil and gas drilling in Illinois is unlikely to begin until next year, as new regulations will take several months to implement; and another Ohio company is accused of illegally dumping wastewater. (Associated Press, Columbus Dispatch)

FRAC SAND: After lifting its moratorium, a Minnesota county approves its first new frac sand mining operation, with at least 40 conditions. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

TECHNOLOGY: In a Minnesota pilot project, an Ohio company is testing a new type of taconite pellet that would enable steel to be made using electricity instead of traditional blast furnaces. (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

ALSO: A Wisconsin company is awarded $2.4 million to develop a process to cut manufacturing costs of LED bulbs, and a solar-powered airplane makes a stop in St. Louis. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

EFFICIENCY: A bipartisan energy efficiency bill in the U.S. Senate could be sunk by controversial amendments, and the New York Times profiles Walgreens’ net-zero store under construction outside Chicago. (Politico, New York Times)

BIOFUELS: The oil and gas industry wants the Supreme Court to strike down an EPA decision allowing the sale of E15 ethanol blends. (The Hill)

POLLUTION: A Wisconsin biomass power plant will pay $150,000 to settle pollution violations. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

TRANSPORTATION: Faced with a road-funding shortfall, Michigan considers a $75 fee for hybrid and electric vehicles. (MLive.com)

COMMENTARY: How utilities can adapt to the 21st century. (Grist)