NATURAL GAS: Market for Canadian natural gas emerges as California hydroelectric production cut in fourth year of drought. (Bloomberg)
FRACKING: The US Environmental Protection Agency has been unable to collect the data it needs from the oil and gas sector to determine whether fracking can pollute drinking water. (InsideClimate News)
ETHANOL: Pro-ethanol group Fuels America signs deal with a pair of high-profile lobbyists from both parties to defend the federal ethanol blending mandate. (The Hill)
WIND: Cape Wind president vows go forward with $2.5-billion project slated for Nantucket Sound and restore its power-purchase agreements with utility. (The Boston Globe)
SOLAR: Hawaii’s public utility commission says utility has “duty” to interconnect rooftop solar installations unless risk to grid can be proven. (GreentechMedia)
UTILITY TRANSITION: NRG Energy will continue to focus on its residential solar and renewable energy technology businesses, despite posting losses of $53 million and $163 million in those units respectively in 2014, company executives said in an earnings call Friday. (GreentechMedia)
COAL: Demand for coal already is falling due to uncertainty about how coal-fired power plants will comply with proposed restrictions on carbon emissions, according to a brief filed by Murray Energy with the US Court of Appeals. (Bloomberg BNA)
KEYSTONE PIPELINE: Billionaire investor Warren Buffett slams delay in Obama administration’s review of the Keystone XL pipeline, saying it amounts to the United States thumbing its nose at Canada. (The Hill)
PRICE ON CARBON: The first auction under California’s cap-and-trade system to include emissions from cars, trucks, ships and other parts of the transportation system officially sold out last week. (GreenBiz)
VERMONT: Vermont House advances bill requiring utilities to obtain 75 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2032 and also help customers cut consumption of home heating oil and other carbon-emitting fuels. (Burlington Free Press)
ILLINOIS: To address the state’s budget crisis, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner proposes cutting energy efficiency and renewables programs and to sweep money already collected for those programs into the general coffer.
DROUGHT: A new study out of Stanford University warns that Californians should become accustomed to long, harsh and dry conditions. (The Washington Post)