Community solar falls off

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.

SOLAR

• Community solar installations fell in the first half of 2025, while the longer-term outlook forecasts more decline as funding turbulence jeopardizes projects. (Canary Media)

• The Trump administration withdraws a $6.7 million grant from the Biden administration to support a solar-plus-battery-storage project at Indianapolis International Airport. (FOX 59)

• Arevon Energy brings online a pair of southwestern Indiana solar projects totaling 264 MW of capacity after a nearly $400 million investment. (Solar Power World)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• A Kansas town of about 6,500 people plans to build hundreds of housing units and a hotel to prepare for an influx of workers from a new Panasonic battery plant, despite uncertainty about when the facility might reach full production. (Kansas Reflector)

UTILITIES

• A federal appeals court rules that FirstEnergy does not have to release the findings of two internal investigations into the utility’s role in the House Bill 6 scandal, which investors sued to see. (Cleveland.com)

• Labor unions and some clean energy groups welcome Minnesota regulators’ decision approving Allete’s sale to private equity giant BlackRock, saying it will lead to more clean energy investments. (Minnesota Reformer)

STORAGE

• Xcel Energy plans to build 200 MW of battery storage at strategic locations across Minnesota, such as commercial and industrial sites. (KTTN)

DATA CENTERS

• Data centers in Ohio landed $2.5 billion in state and local tax incentives from 2017–2024 and contributed $3.7 billion to the state’s economy, according to a new industry-backed report. (Signal Ohio)

• Google looks to build up to six data centers near a decommissioned Iowa nuclear plant that its owner is looking to restart. (KGAN)

• A wave of local opposition to an $8 billion data center planned in eastern Wisconsin may come too late to stop the project. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

COAL

• AES Indiana considers strategies for cleaning up a coal ash storage site that has been contaminating groundwater near a coal plant that closed in 2016. (Indianapolis Star)

CLEAN ENERGY

• The Sierra Club says Illinois is on its own for building clean energy projects and hitting state climate targets as the Trump administration retreats on federal clean energy support. (NPR Illinois)

NUCLEAR

• A TerraPower executive says a proposed small modular nuclear reactor in Kansas is a more efficient alternative to the state’s only nuclear plant. (Kansas Reflector)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Illinois Commerce Commission staff recommend regulators slash suburban gas supplier Nicor’s $314 million rate increase for infrastructure projects by about one-third in a move welcomed by consumer advocates. (Chicago Sun-Times)

• Alliant Energy explores alternative eastern Iowa sites for building a ​“very large natural gas plant.” (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• Solar is crushing gas power in California this year — Julian Spector

• Why did Newsom veto California’s virtual power plant bills? — Jeff St. John

• New England’s final coal plant shuts down years ahead of schedule — Sarah Shemkus