FirstEnergy’s landmark $250 million fine

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.

UTILITIES

• The $250 million fine that Ohio regulators handed down to FirstEnergy for violations tied to the state’s largest utility corruption scandal is one of the biggest such penalties in U.S. history. (Canary Media)

GRID

• FirstEnergy asks Ohio regulators to loosen reliability standards for its three regulated utilities that would give them more time to restore power during outages. (Canary Media)

• PJM’s oversight group wants federal regulators to clarify that the grid operator should halt data center interconnection if it lacks adequate power. (Ohio Capital Journal)

• Iowa regulators approve plans for a $221 million, 61-mile transmission project that will help supply power to two large data centers. (Des Moines Register)

• Gas makes up about 70% of the 6.1 GW of potential generation projects that MISO is reviewing under its fast-track interconnection process. (Utility Dive)

• Republican Congress members from North Dakota introduce legislation that would prevent red state ratepayers from paying for major transmission projects tied to Democratic-led states’ climate policies. (E&E News)

NUCLEAR

• Holtec will receive up to $400 million in federal funding to develop two small-scale nuclear reactors at a site in southwestern Michigan where the company is also restarting a legacy nuclear plant. (Detroit News)

SOLAR

• A Detroit nonprofit launches a job training pilot program designed to equip city residents with skills in solar technology, sustainable energy and environmental justice. (Planet Detroit)

PIPELINES

• A North Dakota judge rules in favor of landowners and finds a state law related to carbon storage to be unconstitutional, which could have implications for the controversial Summit carbon pipeline. (North Dakota Monitor)

• Opponents challenging the ongoing operation and plan to bury the Line 5 pipeline in an underground tunnel say a potential spill could cost taxpayers up to $4 billion to clean up. (Michigan Advance)

DATA CENTERS

• Protests gain momentum against DTE Energy’s fast-moving request for state regulators to approve power supply contracts for a new $7 billion data center. (Planet Detroit)

ETHANOL

• America’s reliance on corn and corn-based ethanol is driving up greenhouse gas emissions because of the carbon footprint of the fertilizer that’s used to grow it, researchers say. (Floodlight)

POLITICS

• Campaign contributions from the top lawyers at Michigan’s two large investor-owned utilities to the Democratic candidate in the state’s attorney general primary race raise conflict-of-interest concerns. (Michigan Advance)

COAL

• The NAACP joins environmental groups to protest the Trump administration’s orders to keep open a western Michigan coal plant that critics say is harmful to the region and represents ongoing environmental injustice. (MLive)

BIOGAS

• A consortium of European and Japanese companies wants to build a synthetic methane plant in Nebraska to be close to the state’s carbon resources from ethanol plants. (Nebraska Public Media)

NEW FROM CANARY

• As solar booms and coal fades, Greece’s mining region struggles to adapt — Dan McCarthy

• Exxon halts plans for massive low-carbon hydrogen facility in Texas — Alexander C. Kaufman

• Colorado mandates ambitious emissions cuts for its gas utilities — Alison F. Takemura