Energy in America

Asian stocks were mostly higher Wednesday following overnight gains on Wall Street as investors looked ahead to a likely U.S. interest rate hike.

The European Union's executive body says it has approved Poland's 9.4 billion euro ($11 billion) plan for developing renewable energy sources.

Sprawling Russian conglomerate Sistema says a court has frozen some of its assets to secure a pending $2 billion lawsuit from Russia's largest oil company, the state-owned Rosneft.

Johns Hopkins University will stop buying stocks and bonds of companies that produce coal for electric power as a major part of their business.

___ Tax package would ease hit to residents of high-tax states WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Republicans are speeding toward an agreement on a massive tax package that would ease the hit on residents of high-tax states and appease corporations that could have lost precious tax breaks.

More than 700,000 South Carolina power customers are unfairly "holding the bag," the state's top attorney told regulators Tuesday, obligated to pay over $2 billion in interest debt for a failed nuclear reactor construction project that has never generated any electricity and likely never will.

The agency that regulates utilities in Maine is opening an inquiry into the preparedness and response of electric companies following a powerful October windstorm that left more than half the state's population in the dark.

Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Tuesday as investors stepped back after several days of advances, erasing early gains.

The Latest on the climate summit taking place in Paris (all times local): 9:50 a.m.

More than 50 world leaders are gathering in Paris for a summit that President Emmanuel Macron hopes will give new momentum to the fight against global warming, despite U.S. President Donald Trump's rejection of the Paris climate accord.

U.S. stock indexes edged higher in early trading Monday as gains in technology and energy companies outweighed losses among makers of packaged foods and other consumer goods.

A government safety panel on Monday urged the temporary shutdown of twin oil pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac until their operator can finish inspections and repair coating gaps, after some members expressed concerns over a recent deal between the state and Enbridge Inc.

New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, consumer advocates and others have reached a settlement with Xcel Energy over the utility's plans to add more wind power for customers in New Mexico and parts of Texas.

___ Bitcoin futures soar amid frenzy over virtual currency NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street got its first taste of bitcoin on Monday, with the price of the first-ever futures contract for the digital currency jumping 20 percent.

The latest on developments in financial markets (All times local): 9:35 a.m.

More than a dozen oil companies failed to meet North Dakota's natural gas flaring goals three months ago.

The parent company of South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. is offering the site of a failed nuclear reactor project to the state-owned utility Santee Cooper.

Share prices were higher in Asia on Monday, lifted by encouraging employment data from the U.S. that took the Standard & Poor's 500 index to its third straight weekly gain on Friday despite weakness earlier in the week.

Germany's Siemens says it has signed contracts worth some 700 million euros ($824 million) to build two gas-powered electricity plants in Libya.

Share prices were higher in Asia on Monday, lifted by encouraging employment data from the U.S. that took the Standard & Poor's 500 index to its third straight weekly gain on Friday despite weakness earlier in the week.