How flexible interconnection can fast-track solar

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.

SOLAR

• ComEd has partnered with companies and environmentalists to use ​“flexible interconnection” to fast-track more than 50 MW of community solar projects in Illinois so far, with more likely to come before federal tax credits sunset in July. (Canary Media)

• Michigan residents band together to leverage group-buy discounts and federal incentives for rooftop solar installations. (Associated Press)

• Origis Energy begins operations at a 210 MW solar farm in Indiana that will deliver power to CenterPoint Energy. (news release)

• Geronimo Power begins operating its 117 MW solar farm in Ohio. (news release)

• A Chicago church completes installation of a 102-panel solar array after a dispute with the city over fees it reportedly needed to pay before it could receive $250,000 in reimbursements from a now-inactive climate fund. (Block Club Chicago)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Officials break ground on a $33 billion, 9.2 GW gas-fired power plant on an Ohio campus near a site that formerly produced enriched uranium. (Columbus Dispatch, Columbus Dispatch)

GRID

• North Dakota’s Supreme Court considers an appeal from residents and localities who say they were shut out of the permitting process for a 90-mile transmission line. (North Dakota Monitor)

• Minnesota regulators set three public meetings around Minnesota Power and American Transmission Company’s proposed 345 kV transmission line. (Duluth News Tribune)

STEEL

• A new study from Indiana University finds that U.S. Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs could create seven times more jobs by 2032 if they transition to clean steelmaking, or risk losing 12,000 jobs in Indiana over the next decade if they don’t. (Chicago Tribune)

STORAGE

• Clean energy advocates criticize Minnesota regulators’ approval of the state’s first virtual power plant program because it will be owned by utility Xcel Energy and not individual system owners. (Solar Power World)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Minnesota saw lower electric vehicle sales in 2025 after years of growth, and an automotive group projects even lower sales in 2026 after congressional Republicans repealed a key incentive for buyers. (Minnesota Star Tribune)

UTILITIES

• Wisconsin’s wintertime moratorium on electric and gas utility shutoffs is set to end on April 15. (WHBL)

BIOFUELS

• Gevo announces it will double production capacity at a North Dakota ethanol factory. (North Dakota Monitor)

MINING

• Federal officials select a second site in South Dakota’s Black Hills for a fasttrack permitting process of a rare earth elements mine. (South Dakota Searchlight)

OVERSIGHT

• A former Republican Indiana state senator who was appointed in January to lead the state’s utility regulation commission discusses affordability, data centers, and rising power bills. (Journal Gazette)

• Ohio utility regulators and an official from PJM Interconnection brief state lawmakers on the impact of legislation passed last year to shorten regulatory timelines and encourage new private investment in generation. (Ohio Capital Journal)

• Indiana Gov. Mike Braun reportedly intends to sign legislation to hold utility companies accountable for affordability by giving the state more leeway over profit-based performance factors. (WSBT)

DATA CENTERS

• A Minnesota lawmaker sponsors a bill to prevent data centers from piggybacking on localities’ groundwater permits, which critics say allows them to avoid public scrutiny and threatens water supplies. (MPR)

CLIMATE

• A United Nations expert warns climate change will result in more wildfires in Nebraska, which could hurt ranchers and the state’s cattle industry. (Flatwater Free Press)

COMMENTARY

• Wisconsin residents could miss out on 17 GW of new clean energy development as the state spends $14 billion to import fossil fuels, all of which could add up to higher power bills despite the Trump administration’s promise of ​“affordable energy,” writes a clean energy advocate. (Wisconsin Examiner)