A faster way to decarbonize steel

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Midwest Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

CLEAN TECH

• A Chicago-area start-up’s technology can recycle material leftover from steel and aluminum production that’s typically thrown away, offering a faster and more direct way of decarbonizing the industry. (Canary Media)

SOLAR

• Illinois’ renewable energy targets and state-funded solar programs can help the state keep expanding solar capacity as federal incentives are in jeopardy, advocates say. (Inside Climate News)

• Ameren Missouri is finalizing plans for a solar project near the company’s only nuclear plant as part of its broader renewable energy strategy. (KBIA)

GRID

• Xcel Energy officials say the utility is prepared to meet an anticipated influx of demand from data centers as it also retires coal plants and meets Minnesota’s carbon-free power targets. (Minnesota Reformer)

• North Dakota landowners ask state regulators to rescind an order finding that a $440 million, 95-mile transmission line is necessary for grid reliability. (Bismarck Tribune)

COAL

• Advocates say Michigan’s attorney general could challenge the Trump administration’s order to keep a large coal plant operating by claiming that no energy emergency exists, or that the Department of Energy exceeded its authority. (Planet Detroit)

• A recent MISO grid reliability report backs Indiana Gov. Mike Braun’s concerns about losing capacity from retiring coal plants as demand grows. (WLFI)

• Local leaders highlight the significance of plans to relocate hulking riverside coal piles in Green Bay in a deal that has eluded officials for decades. (Wisconsin Public Radio)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Advocates say Iowa stands to lose jobs, manufacturing plants, and renewable energy project expansions while utility customers face higher bills under a U.S. House-passed budget that effectively repeals the Inflation Reduction Act. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

• The majority of federal clean energy tax credits have benefitted red states, which are more likely to see clean manufacturing investments and momentum slow if those incentives are repealed. (Stateline)

• A Republican Congress member from Nebraska joins 12 other GOP lawmakers in calling on the Senate to scale back clean energy cuts that they previously voted for in President Trump’s ​“big beautiful bill.” (NBC News)

CLIMATE

• Recent high school graduates in Duluth, Minnesota, reflect on the challenges they encountered over the past several years when pushing school officials to take on solar and climate projects. (MPR News)

NEW FROM CANARY

• A North Carolina food bank is on track to save $143,000 annually thanks to its rooftop solar array, but the federal incentives that made it possible will be gutted under Republicans’ proposed budget bill, Elizabeth Ouzts reports.

• Springfield, Massachusetts, residents are fighting back after rulings to stop a wood-burning power plant were reversed, Sarah Shemkus reports.

• A handful of Senate Republicans indicate they’ll look to extend the 60-day phaseout of clean energy tax credits proposed in the House’s ​“Big, Beautiful Bill,” Kathryn Krawczyk reports.