How utilities can limit data center demand

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.

DATA CENTERS

• Utilities could see major savings and defer new capacity needs from data centers if they negotiate for companies to be flexible with their power needs early on in the planning process, according to new research from analysis firms GridLab and Telos Energy. (Canary Media)

• A referendum to block a proposed zoning change that would permit a large data center outside Ann Arbor, Michigan, is part of a growing wave of local opposition nationwide that could derail development. (Inside Climate News)

COAL

• Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers sues the Omaha Public Power District to stop the utility’s plan to retire three of five units at a coal plant and convert the other two to run on natural gas. (Nebraska Examiner)

RENEWABLES

• Michigan’s two large investor-owned utilities are on track to double their renewable energy capacity by 2030 and meet interim goals in the state’s 100% clean energy target by 2040. (Michigan Public)

PIPELINES

• Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney raised the prospect of reviving the abandoned Keystone XL pipeline project during a recent White House visit with President Trump. (Associated Press)

• Iowa biofuel industry representatives say Iowa risks losing its ethanol production leadership position after Nebraska brings online a multi-state carbon pipeline. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

CARBON CAPTURE

• The Ohio House passes bipartisan legislation that would give the state authority to regulate carbon capture and storage projects. (Signal Ohio)

• A North Dakota board extends the availability of a $250 million loan created to support a carbon capture project at a major coal plant. (Bismarck Tribune)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• The Trump administration is reportedly considering canceling a $500 million grant for General Motors to convert a Michigan auto plant to electric vehicle production, though officials say they haven’t made a final determination. (Michigan Advance)

HYDROGEN

• General Motors scraps plans to develop next-generation hydrogen fuel cell technology as well as a $55 million factory in Detroit based on an uncertain future for the sector. (Crain’s Detroit)

UTILITIES

• About 30 high school students in Duluth, Minnesota, hold protests over the recently approved sale of Allete to private equity firm BlackRock, citing environmental, social and rate impacts. (Duluth News Tribune)

POLITICS

• The former Ohio Republican Party chairman who was convicted for his role in the First Energy bribery scandal is released from prison after serving less than two and a half years of a five-year sentence. (Cleveland.com)

SOLAR

• A developer looks to secure a 30-year lease on property owned by Green Bay, Wisconsin, for a 5-6 MW solar project. (NBC 26)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• Chart: In a first, world gets more power from renewables than coal — Dan McCarthy

• Base Power hauls $1B for mass deployment of huge home batteries — Julian Spector

• Is Trump about to squash America’s carbon-removal moonshot? — Maria Gallucci

• America’s biggest offshore wind farm will be online in six months — Clare Fieseler

• How data centers can move fast without breaking things — Jeff St. John