An unlikely ally for Ohio solar developers

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

SOLAR

• The Ohio Chamber of Commerce has emerged as an unlikely ally of utility-scale solar development in Ohio, which advocates hope can erode more than a decade of fierce opposition to clean energy by GOP supermajorities in the General Assembly. (Canary Media)

• Policy support under the Biden administration expanded U.S. solar module production sevenfold to 50 gigawatts since 2020, and enough to meet domestic demand, according to a new industry report. (E&E News, subscription)

• A global explosives manufacturer based in southern Illinois invests $1.7 million in a solar project that will meet nearly half of the company’s electricity needs. (WSIL)

OIL & GAS

• Energy from oil, gas and electricity make up nearly two-thirds of Minnesota’s imports from Canada, exposing an economic hit the state could take under now-delayed tariff threats from the Trump administration. (WCCO)

• Small, low-emitting oil and gas drilling sites are responsible for 70% of all oil and gas methane emissions in the continental U.S., according to a new study. (E&E News, subscription)

CLEAN ENERGY

Entities across the country that were relying on upwards of millions of dollars in federal clean energy funding under the Inflation Reduction Act are having to halt work because of uncertainty over whether their projects align with the Trump administration’s priorities. (Canary Media)

UTILITIES

• Michigan’s two large investor-owned utilities push back against some of the major findings from a recent audit of their outages, including suggestions that they may need to slow hundreds of millions of dollars in planned grid investments. (MLive, subscription)

• Three FirstEnergy subsidiaries in Ohio file electric security plans with state regulators outlining grid infrastructure and customer assistant priorities. (Daily Energy Insider)

GRID

Federal regulators approve MISO’s plan to limit the size of its interconnection queue studies, which the grid operator says would make the interconnection process more efficient, though clean energy advocates contend it will limit competition. (Utility Dive)

OVERSIGHT

More than 100 recently hired employees in the Chicago-based regional office of the U.S. EPA receive notices that they could immediately be fired, as agency workers already expect to be handcuffed by the Trump administration. (Chicago Sun-Times)