Court temporarily blocks shutdown of Dakota Access pipeline

PIPELINES: A federal appeals court temporarily blocks the shutdown of the Dakota Access pipeline, set to begin next month, to allow parties in the case more time to file briefs. (NPR)

ALSO:
• North Dakota officials argue that shutting down Dakota Access would devastate the oil industry and cost the state billions of dollars in tax revenue. (Associated Press)
• An Iowa environmental group says the effort to permanently shut down Dakota Access is far from over. (Radio Iowa)

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CLEAN ENERGY: Michigan’s largest municipal utility announces a plan to have 50% clean energy resources by 2030 and be carbon neutral by 2040. (WKAR)

WIND: Local officials in central Illinois narrowly approve plans for a 66-turbine wind project that will be the first in the county. (Bloomington Pantagraph)

TRANSMISSION:
• Illinois regulators are expected to approve a deal today settling a dispute between ComEd and NextEra over the acquisition of transmission lines. (Crain’s Chicago Business)
• Grid operator MISO predicts a major shift to renewable energy across its system by 2040, according to updated transmission planning scenarios. (RTO Insider, subscription)

CLIMATE:
• Presidential candidate Joe Biden releases a $2 trillion plan to make clean energy investments across a variety of sectors to strengthen infrastructure while addressing climate change. (New York Times)
• Biden’s clean energy plan comes as utilities across the country have already announced plans to decarbonize their power systems. (E&E News, subscription)

SOLAR:
• Indiana Michigan Power begins construction on a 20 MW solar project in northern Indiana, which will be the company’s largest. (ABC 57)
• Construction on a 2.25 MW solar project at a University of Wisconsin campus is expected to finish by the end of the summer. (Racine County Eye)

OIL & GAS: A major investor in a proposed Ohio ethane cracker plant pulls out of the project, though developers say it is still a ​“top priority.” (WOUB)

COAL: A federal appeals court orders the U.S. EPA to reopen a complaint filed by New York state over air pollution from upwind coal plants in nine states, including in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. (RTO Insider, subscription)

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NUCLEAR: The pandemic may further delay the restart of a southeastern Michigan nuclear plant in the midst of one of its longest outages in history. (Toledo Blade)

BIOGAS: A new report from environmental groups criticizes renewable natural gas, arguing that it’s too expensive, there’s not enough of it, and that it doesn’t address indoor air pollution concerns. (Grist)