Energy storage pivot in Michigan

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.

BATTERIES

• LG Energy Solution opens a $2.6 billion grid battery storage plant in Michigan, a facility that was previously planned as a joint venture with General Motors to produce EV batteries before the market shrank. (Detroit Free Press)

DATA CENTERS

• Oracle drops its lawsuit challenging Wisconsin regulators’ requirement that data center developers must meet credit rating requirements to shield utility customers from potential costs if a company fails. (Wisconsin Watch)

• Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and his Republican opponent for governor, Darren Bailey, were previously each supportive of incentives to lure the data center industry but have since changed their positions — a reflection of how the industry has emerged as a campaign issue in the state. (Capitol News Illinois)

GRID

• Federal regulators approve a cost-sharing framework for MISO transmission projects that are built in PJM’s territory, rejecting calls that the projects should be subject to a competitive bidding process. (Utility Dive)

• A high-voltage transmission buildout to better serve tribal communities in the Dakotas and Nebraska was among three Biden-era national transmission corridor designations that the Trump administration recently canceled. (Utility Dive)

• A southeastern Michigan township approves a moratorium on electric grid infrastructure projects in an effort to delay a $1.2 billion data center planned by the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory. (Eastern Echo)

• Southern Wisconsin officials and landowners raise concerns about losing control of their property to make room for a 190-mile, 765-kilovolt transmission project. (WMTV)

MINING

• Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) signs an executive order banning non-iron ore mining in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in a move to stop state and federal efforts to extract copper, nickel, and other valuable metals from the region. (Minnesota Reformer)

UTILITIES

• An Ohio Democratic state lawmaker wants state regulators to hold hearings on AES’ proposed $10.7 billion sale to a consortium of private equity firms, citing concerns over potential cost increases for customers. (Ohio Capital Journal)

COAL

• The cost of keeping a western Michigan coal plant online past its May 2025 retirement date reaches $260 million as the Trump administration has now issued five three-month extensions to keep the facility open. (MLive)

CARBON CAPTURE

• A North Dakota authority approves $205 million in loans for a carbon capture and storage project at a large coal plant after a rural electric cooperative brings on a new development partner to reduce financial risk for utility customers. (North Dakota Monitor)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Detroit EV startup Grounded, which upfits specialty vehicles into electric and hybrid models, expands into a larger factory space after raising $5 million in seed funding. (Crain’s Detroit)

BIOFUELS

• An Illinois ethanol plant will pay $200,000 to settle a lawsuit from the state attorney general over wastewater discharges that contaminated the Illinois River. (WMBD)