Controversial Wisconsin gas plant in doubt

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.

FOSSIL FUELS

• Minnesota Power abandons plans to buy power from a planned $1 billion gas plant in northern Wisconsin, casting doubt on the project that has faced opposition from tribes and environmental groups. (Star Tribune)

UTILITIES

• The former chairperson of Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission takes a job as a top executive at Alliant Energy, illustrating the state’s revolving door of regulators taking jobs at companies they previously oversaw, critics say. (Wisconsin Public Radio)

• FirstEnergy affiliates in Ohio agree to pay $275 million in restitution to their customers as part of a deal to settle and resolve years of investigations tied to the House Bill 6 corruption scandal. (Cleveland.com)

HYDROELECTRIC

• Michigan’s two largest investor-owned utilities win a $383 million verdict in federal court after suing Toshiba and U.S. subsidiaries for the botched rebuild of a major hydroelectric pumped storage plant along Lake Michigan. (MLive)

PIPELINES

• The U.S. Army Corps recommends keeping the Dakota Access pipeline operating but with new safety conditions in a highly anticipated environmental impact statement previously ordered by a judge amid challenges from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. (North Dakota Monitor)

MINING

• Minnesota-based exploration company Talon Metals plans to buy the nation’s only nickel mine located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as well as a nearby nickel and copper mill that processes material critical for EV batteries. (E&E News)

COAL

• Illinois environmental groups sue the Tennessee Valley Authority to stop expanded coal mining in Illinois. (E&E News)

• Michigan’s Democratic attorney general files a third challenge with the U.S. Department of Energy in an attempt to halt the Trump administration’s orders to keep a western Michigan coal plant operating beyond its scheduled retirement. (WZZM)

SOLAR

• A developer sues a southern Indiana county, asking a judge to review a zoning board’s denial of a commercial solar project earlier this year. (WTHR)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Michigan clean energy advocates say Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has done little to promote a sweeping policy that calls for 100% clean energy by 2040, which now could be jeopardy if utilities are given an off-ramp to meet demand for data centers. (Inside Climate News)

GRID

• The U.S. House passes legislation proposed by Republican Rep. Troy Balderson of Ohio that aims to speed up the power plant permitting process if grid regulators forecast a supply shortage, which critics say is a gift to the fossil fuel industry. (Cleveland.com)

• Federal regulators order grid operator PJM Interconnection to develop rules for colocating power plants with data centers and other large power loads that could benefit companies that own gas and nuclear plants in the grid operator’s territory. (Utility Dive)

CLIMATE

• Wisconsin Democrats introduce a climate change bill package that they hope could gain traction if they win a legislative majority next year. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Electrifying these factories could cut a gigaton of CO2 pollution — Maria Gallucci

• A path to fast, cheap home solar and batteries: go through the meter — Jeff St. John

• Georgia’s lame-duck utility commission OKs massive, pricey gas buildout — Jeff St. John

• The 10 biggest clean energy stories of 2025 — Kathryn Krawczyk