Clampdown on rural solar projects

SOLAR

• The Trump administration places new restrictions on the Rural Energy for America Program that critics say will severely limit farms and rural small businesses from installing clean energy projects. (Canary Media)
• The Iowa Farmers Union joins environmental groups in a lawsuit challenging the REAP restrictions, which union leaders call ​“really damaging” for its members. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
• The USDA reinstates a $60,000 grant for an eighth-generation farm in southeastern Michigan whose solar project will move forward before new restrictions on the REAP. (MLive)

STORAGE

• Antora Energy is building a 5.8-GWh thermal energy storage system at an ethanol biorefinery in Kansas that will be one of the largest battery storage systems in the world. (Topeka Capital-Journal)

GRID

• A proposed transmission line that would cut across Ohio to Indiana faces pushback from communities that don’t want to host the project, illustrating a key challenge for congressional lawmakers as they look to speed up permitting for such infrastructure. (Ohio Capital Journal)
• State and federal officials gather in eastern Minnesota to promote the benefits of new substation and grid upgrades to improve resilience. (Public News Service)

DATA CENTERS

• Michigan regulators approve DTE Energy’s 1-GW power supply contract for a new Google hyperscale data center in metro Detroit, with conditions that include Google paying for more than 2 GW of renewable energy and batteries. (MLive)
• Geronimo Power addresses residents’ concerns over a proposed 540-MW data center near Fargo, North Dakota, saying the project would supply its own power and truck in water for a closed-loop cooling system rather than draw from local wells. (Inforum)

EMISSIONS

• Wisconsin’s Democratic attorney general says the Trump administration has chosen to worsen public health and protect the fossil fuel industry’s profits as the state joins a coalition of 25 states and local governments suing over rollbacks to greenhouse gas emissions standards for power plants. (Wisconsin Public Radio)

STEELMAKING

• Ohio regulators approve a key air permit for Cleveland-Cliffs’ $1 billion refurbishment of a coal-powered blast furnace at a steelmaking plant that will also include a new cogeneration system. (WYSO)

UTILITIES

• A bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers call on federal regulators to block the $33 billion sale of AES to private equity buyers, arguing the deal would raise prices for customers to benefit data centers. (The Hill)
• The GOP-led Michigan House passes a bill that would prohibit lawmakers from taking a job with any organization that receives funding from a state utility board for at least two years to avoid conflicts of interest. (WBUP)

NUCLEAR

• Missouri releases a 2026 statewide energy plan that includes a focus on nuclear energy that officials claim is the only carbon-free power source to help with goals around economic development and becoming a net exporter of energy. (FOX 2)