Illinois’ data center pipeline

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DATA CENTERS

• The pipeline of proposed data centers and other large loads in Illinois have the potential to more than double ComEd’s system peak load by 2040, utility executives say. (Capitol News Illinois)

• The economic development promises of a large computing campus and natural gas plant in southern Ohio meets pushback from some area residents who say they are still dealing with the public health fallout from decades of uranium enrichment. (Cleveland.com)

• Michigan’s Democratic attorney general challenges power contracts for a hyperscale data center project with the state Court of Appeals after regulators rejected her request. (MLive)

GRID

• A group of ranchers and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to stop a proposed 220-mile transmission line for wind energy through western Nebraska and South Dakota. (Nebraska Public Media)

SOLAR

• Despite federal setbacks, the U.S. solar industry continues to thrive and is expected to expand over the coming years to meet growing demand from data centers. (Grist)

• Cincinnati leaders join a groundbreaking ceremony for a 10 MW solar project rising on a former city-owned landfill. (Solar Power World)

PIPELINES

• A Wisconsin judge hears oral arguments as a tribe and environmental groups challenge a state decision approving permits for Enbridge to reroute Line 5. (Wisconsin Public Radio)

WIND

• A North Dakota college is seeking an international accreditation to prepare students for the latest standards in wind energy training. (Grand Forks Herald)

UTILITIES

• Michigan regulators routinely ignore administrative law judges’ recommendations to scale back utility rate increase proposals, which consumer advocates argue has further driven up costs. (MLive)

HYDROELECTRIC

• Members of a Michigan task force say state lawmakers have failed to act for years to improve dams statewide, including hydroelectric facilities, that increasingly face risk of failing during flooding events. (Detroit News)

COMMENTARY

• A large majority of Illinois residents surveyed in a recent poll say they either want to regulate data center construction or outright oppose the facilities, showing residents want tighter regulations on the industry, a columnist writes. (Chicago Sun-Times)