Alliant Energy to close major Wisconsin coal plant by 2025

COAL: Alliant Energy plans to close Wisconsin’s second-largest coal plant by 2025, which utility officials say will save $250 million in maintenance and upgrade costs. (Wisconsin State Journal)

SOLAR: Advocates push a bill in Iowa to double a cap on state solar tax credits as the waitlist for the program grows longer. (Energy News Network)

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PIPELINES:
• A Minnesota appeals court denies two tribes’ request to stop construction on the Line 3 pipeline. (Associated Press)
• U.S. House and Senate lawmakers introduce legislation to revive the Keystone XL pipeline, though it faces unlikely odds in Congress. (E&E News, subscription)
• Wisconsin Republicans back legislation supporting construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. (Journal Times)

UTILITIES:
• Clean energy advocates raise concerns about Minnesota Power’s plan to build new natural gas capacity amid its 2050 carbon-free power target. (Star Tribune)
• An Indiana municipal utility seeks to raise rates to in part pay for coal ash management. (Palladium-Item)

WIND: A North Dakota lawmaker proposes legislation that would impose a tax on wind projects to help support in-state coal plants. (Bismarck Tribune)

POWER PLANTS: The operators of a 485 MW natural gas plant in eastern Ohio plan to transition to 100% hydrogen over the next decade. (Columbus Dispatch)

POLICY: North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum issues an executive order aiming to counter recent climate action by President Biden and bolster in-state energy development. (Bismarck Tribune)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Two southeastern Michigan school districts receive electric school buses to deliver food through assistance programs. (Detroit Free Press)

GRID:
• Utilities joining Southwest Power Pool’s new western power market say it will help with decarbonization goals, though clean energy advocates have raised questions about power delivery efficiency. (Utility Dive)
• FirstEnergy will invest more than $31 million in grid upgrades to support electric vehicle battery manufacturing. (Tribune Chronicle)
• Clean energy advocates say grid operator MISO is lagging on approving major interstate transmission projects, blocking broader clean energy development. (Michigan Radio)

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TRANSPORTATION: North Dakota legislation to divert more oil tax revenue for transportation infrastructure gains early support from lawmakers and business groups. (Associated Press)

COMMENTARY:
• Three northern Minnesota mayors say the Line 3 pipeline is an ​“incredible economic benefit to our state.” (MinnPost)
• Ohio’s power plant subsidy law is ​“an example of the harm done to ratepayers and the energy transition when bad actors and dark money work together to conceal the true motivations behind utility bailouts,” a researcher says. (Brookings Institution)