$500M for green steel plan nixed

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Midwest Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning.

COAL

• Cleveland-Cliffs will repurpose a $500 million Biden-era grant intended to refurbish an Ohio steel plant’s blast furnace to eventually run on hydrogen, instead supporting the company’s plan to upgrade its coal-fired blast furnace. (Canary Media)

CLEAN ENERGY

• PJM has granted interconnection approvals for more than 50 GW of much-needed new generation, mostly wind, solar and storage, but the projects still need states and utilities to sign off before they can be built. (Canary Media)

GRID

• Northwest Indiana utility NIPSCO failed to protect its power lines from tree damage ahead of a major storm this month that caused extended outages for thousands of residents, a class action lawsuit alleges. (Chicago Sun-Times)

• The combination of 99-mile-per-hour straight-line winds, rain-saturated soil that uprooted trees, and a local grid heavily reliant on overhead power lines contributed to the widespread and long-term outages in Gary, Indiana. (Capital B)

OIL AND GAS

• The leading candidates in the Ohio governor’s race differ sharply on fracking in state parks, as Democrat Amy Acton says she would seek to ban the practice while Republican Vivek Ramaswamy has previously stated his support. (Cleveland.com)

PIPELINES

• Nebraska clean energy advocates say any hopes by the Trump administration to restart talks around building the Keystone XL pipeline would ultimately fail because of ongoing landowner resistance. (KETV)

• This year’s election could prove pivotal for the future of a proposed tunnel for Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac, as voters choose a new governor and attorney general after eight years of officials fighting the project. (Bridge)

SOLAR

• A group of 18 property owners sues to stop a proposed 6,100-acre solar project outside Chicago, claiming state and local regulations are unconstitutional for denying their property rights. (Chicago Tribune)

• A Chicago nonprofit offers technical job training in solar energy alongside career coaching and financial literacy to disadvantaged populations. (Chicago Sun-Times)

WIND

• Central Wisconsin county officials weigh their options, including passing a temporary moratorium or reaching a joint development agreement, as they consider a 150-MW Alliant Energy wind project. (Wausau Pilot Review)

OVERSIGHT

• The state of Indiana will pay $625,000 to settle a lawsuit from a former state utility regulator who claims he was illegally fired by Gov. Mike Braun. (Indiana Capital Chronicle)