Clock ticks on Illinois energy bill

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

CLEAN ENERGY

• The fate of a sweeping Illinois energy bill that aims to speed up renewable energy and storage projects, lift the state’s moratorium on large nuclear plants and incentivize energy efficiency remains unclear as lawmakers are expected to adjourn for the session on Saturday. (Chicago Sun-Times)

• Minnesota elected officials and clean energy executives say the U.S. House-passed budget bill would devastate the state’s progress in the energy transition. (MinnPost)

• A climate advocacy group estimates the U.S. House bill would reduce Michigan’s economic output by several billion dollars by 2035 and raise electric bills by 10%. (Interlochen Public Radio)

• More than $14 billion in U.S. clean energy investments have been canceled or delayed so far this year as the Trump administration withdraws climate policy support, a clean energy group reports. (Inside Climate News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Ford Motor Co.’s $2 billion electric vehicle battery factory planned in Michigan would be in jeopardy under proposed federal cuts to clean energy manufacturing tax credits, the company’s chair says. (Bridge)

• Ann Arbor, Michigan’s public school district is poised to buy six new electric buses and charging stations for $2.7 million, with a $2.1 million state grant offsetting most of the cost. (MLive)

• Illinois regulators approve ComEd’s latest electric vehicle incentive program that will commit $168 million over three years for customers’ EV and charger purchases. (Elektrek)

PIPELINES

• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determines that a Line 5 pipeline tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac is needed to meet market demand as part of a long-awaited draft environmental review. (Bridge)

• Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says she is still considering input from parties on both sides of a bill to restrict the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines ahead of a June 14 deadline to either sign or veto the measure. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

SOLAR

• Some of the more than 140 Minnesota schools that installed solar arrays as part of a state program in 2022 are already seeing savings thanks to state and federal incentives. (MinnPost)

• More than 600 sheep are being used to manage vegetation at a 1,200-acre Minnesota solar project as part of a partnership between Xcel Energy and an ecological restoration company. (WCCO)

• A western Illinois community takes an initial step to deny a request to build a solar project on agriculturally zoned land. (KHQA)

BIOFUELS

• PepsiCo converts 20 semi-trucks to run on 99% biodiesel fuels in an attempt to curb transportation emissions as officials unveiled a new B99 pump in Iowa. (Des Moines Register)

UTILITIES

• Michigan’s two largest for-profit utilities commit to spending $3.5 billion on annual purchases from in-state companies for services, technology, and equipment as they build up their clean energy portfolios. (MLive)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Residents of an affordable housing complex in Sacramento, California, are seeing both financial and climate benefits after the neighborhood made energy efficient upgrades and replaced gas appliances with electric. Alison F. Takemura reports.

• New steelmaking and ironmaking capacity coming to the U.S. is all expected to use cleaner technologies that will reduce the industry’s emissions impact, but many steelmakers still rely on coal-fired blast furnaces. Dan McCarthy reports.