Clean energy rollback could hit thousands of Ohio jobs

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.

CLEAN ENERGY

• Reports find Biden-era clean energy tax credits led to announcements of more than $7 billion in investments and 5,000 jobs in Ohio, but their rollback as laid out in Trump’s ​“Big, Beautiful bill” could risk the loss of more than 17,000 direct manufacturing jobs and potentially up to more than 91,000 through the ripple effect on other sectors. (Canary Media)

• Minnesota announces $15 million in clean energy grants for electric cooperatives, businesses, nonprofits, Tribal governments, and others, including nearly $1 million for a 6.5 MW solar array. (West Central Tribune)

SOLAR

• Michigan regulators begin consideration of a 873-acre solar farm as the first state project to be reviewed under a new law that shifts oversight to state officials instead of local townships. (MLive)

• CFE Solar will soon begin operating a 1,298 MW solar farm in Iowa to power Cooperative Farmers Elevator. (N’West Iowa Review)

• Ohio regulators approve the siting of a 120 MW solar farm that will use grazing sheep to manage vegetation on the 800-acre site. (Morning AgClips)

• Michigan State University tests the use of solar arrays around apple orchards as it explores agrivoltaics, which combine solar energy with traditional farming practices. (WPBN/QGTU)

• The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission agrees to hear a complaint from the Upper Sioux Community over its dispute with an electric cooperative over a behind-the-meter solar array that partially powers a casino and resort. (West Central Tribune)

FOSSIL FUELS

• A North Dakota county board rezones 800 acres for a company’s plans to build a data center complex that will be powered by a 1,151 MW coal-fired power plant that was nearly closed in 2020 due to financial issues. (Bismarck Tribune)

WIND

• Residents of a Wisconsin town call for tighter restrictions on Alliant Energy’s proposal to build a wind farm on 48,000 acres. (Wisconsin State Journal)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Indianapolis’ transit agency moves to sell three parcels of land after canceling plans to build an electric bus charging station and turnaround site. (WISH)

POLITICS

• Minnesota solar advocates hail Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman, who was killed earlier this month, for her work authoring a 2013 law that benchmarks for how much solar a utility must include in its energy supply. (CBS News)

• Republican lawmakers in Iowa call on U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst to remove a tax credit to incentivize carbon sequestration from the federal budget reconciliation bill. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

• Michigan advocacy groups press for the passage of laws to restrict political spending by utilities. (Detroit News)

GRID

• American Electric Power restores electricity to 7,248 customers in Ohio affected by a damaged transmission line. (WCMH)

COMMENTARY

• The phaseout of clean energy tax credits in Republicans’ ​“big beautiful bill” would undercut Iowa utilities’ plans to build an additional 1 GW of wind, 0.75 GW of solar, and 0.5 GW of battery storage through 2032, writes a policy analyst. (Decorah News)

• Wisconsin should encourage and approve the construction of more gas-fired power plants to shore up the power grid against coal plant retirements and growing demand from data centers, writes the Midwest region director for the American Petroleum Institute. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

NEW FROM CANARY

• These fishermen made peace with offshore wind. Then Trump came along. By Clare Fieseler