DTE Energy’s bet on gas

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

• DTE Energy plans to seek permission from Michigan regulators to build two gas plants totaling 2.1 GW as part of a new long-range plan to meet growing demand as coal plants come offline. (Planet Detroit)

PIPELINES

• Top Wisconsin officials demand Enbridge halt work on its Line 5 rerouting project following a natural gas spill this week and growing frustration about the company’s lack of communication with the state. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

• Iowa regulators consider penalties and corrective actions for Black Hills Energy following audits that found a high number of gas pipeline safety violations. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

RENEWABLES

• Michigan regulators approve the state’s first utility-scale renewable energy project — a 90 MW solar installation near Lansing — under a new law giving the state permitting authority if a community lacks a compatible ordinance. (MLive)

GRID

• Missouri’s consumer advocate worries that transmission upgrade costs needed to meet growing demand will fall on residential ratepayers without proper cost-allocation requirements in place. (KBIA)

UTILITIES

• Iowa regulators order Alliant Energy to cut customers’ gas rates by nearly $2.6 million after charging them for executive jet charters and failing to pass on savings from employee buyouts and outsourcing customer service. (Des Moines Register)

• Investment analysts warn clients to avoid Indiana and its investor-owned utilities as state officials shake up the Utility Regulatory Commission and crack down on utility bills. (Indiana Capital Chronicle)

• A Michigan judge dismisses a case arguing Ann Arbor’s city clerk wrongly approved a ballot initiative that could lead to the formation of a municipal electric utility. (Michigan Advance)

SOLAR

• A 41-MW solar project in Michigan will provide power to more than 350 schools at 65 school districts under a contract that will save millions of dollars for participants. (WNEM)

DATA CENTERS

• Five major data center developers contribute more than $15 million total to an Ohio program that offers up to $500 in direct bill credits to low-income utility customers. (Ohio Capital Journal)

• Indiana & Michigan Power will seek to cut electricity rates by $79 million annually, saving average residential customers about $100 a year, based on increased revenue from large customers like data centers. (WVPE)

• Existing and forecast data center load made up 9% of wholesale power prices in PJM Interconnection so far this year as power supply diminishes and prices rise sharply. (Utility Dive)

• A local official from ​“data center alley” in Virginia recommends Kansas communities weigh six factors to follow best practices when considering projects: sound, power, water, emissions, setback, and appearance. (Kansas Reflector)

BIOFUELS

• Farm and biofuels groups urge the Trump administration to reject a proposal to expand exemptions from biofuel blending requirements for small refineries, arguing it would hurt rural economies. (Reuters)