Developers plan massive solar project at former Iowa nuclear plant

EFFICIENCY: Missouri lawmakers advance bills that would require property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing programs to undergo a state review every two years and give mortgage holders veto power over PACE loans. (Energy News Network)

POLLUTION: Four Midwest states would face additional requirements to limit nitrogen oxide emissions from power plants to downwind states under a finalized rule from the U.S. EPA. (Politico)

OHIO: Former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chairman Sam Randazzo met repeatedly with Gov. Mike DeWine and utility officials as the state’s scandal-tainted power plant bailout law was under consideration. (Cleveland.com)

SOLAR:
• NextEra Energy unveils plans for a 690 MW, $700 million solar project at a decommissioned nuclear plant in Iowa. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)
• Ten solar projects are in various stages of development in a southern Ohio county, which one former local official calls a ​“historic” opportunity to provide a template for development. (Times-Gazette)
• Construction will start later this year on a 274 MW solar project in southern Ohio that will issue nearly $1 million in payments annually to a local school district. (Chillicothe Gazette)
• State regulators will hold a public hearing this spring on a proposed 144 MW solar project in central Ohio. (Farm and Dairy)
• A 2 MW solar project comes online at a former Milwaukee landfill. (WUWM)

BIOFUELS: Regional officials in Minneapolis-St. Paul approve a $122 million contract to purchase biodiesel buses for public transit over criticism that the money wasn’t spent on electric models. (Star Tribune)

OIL & GAS:
• Iowa House lawmakers pass a bill that would prohibit cities and counties from banning propane or natural gas hookups to homes. (KMALand)
• Indiana regulators fine utility NIPSCO more than $1.1 million for natural gas pipeline safety violations. (Journal Gazette)

PIPELINES: Twenty-one states, including Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas, file a lawsuit against the Biden administration’s canceling of a key permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. (CNN)

COAL: Consumer advocates ask Ohio regulators to investigate legacy subsidy payments to two coal plants in Indiana and Ohio. (E&E News, subscription)

UTILITIES:
• North Dakota regulators begin public hearings on Montana-Dakota Utilities’ request to increase rates to pay for infrastructure upgrades and improved reliability. (KFYR)
• An environmental group urges federal regulators to block utilities from passing trade group membership dues on to customers, citing ​“problematic” political activities. (E&E News, subscription)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Share values fall for Ohio electric vehicle startup Lordstown Motors after federal securities regulators open an inquiry into the company’s operations. (Bloomberg)

RENEWABLES: County officials in southwestern Indiana adopt new solar and wind energy ordinances that one solar developer called ​“very thorough and tough” and beneficial to local government and residents. (Princeton Daily Clarion)

GRID: Missouri will receive $15 million in federal grants to build and improve electric infrastructure across the state. (KTTN)

COMMENTARY: While Xcel Energy has pledged coal plant closures in its northern states territory, the utility plans to keep coal online in western states for decades longer, a clean energy analyst says. (Union of Concerned Scientists)