Illinois faces oil and gas cleanup costs

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OIL & GAS

• Abandoned oil and gas wells that dot central and southern Illinois could cost state taxpayers more than $1 billion in future cleanup costs, according to a report from Northwestern University and environmental advocates. (Capitol News Illinois)

• An Ohio ethics committee will not move forward with a complaint accusing a GOP state senator of personally gaining from voting on legislation that would have benefitted his family oil and gas business. (Ohio Capital Journal)

COAL

• The Trump administration will issue an executive order today directing the Department of Defense to enter into power supply contracts with coal plants, while separately awarding funding to upgrade and recommission coal plants in Ohio and other states. (Inside Climate News)

• Minnesota utility customers may be on the hook for paying part of the costs of keeping coal plants open in other states under the Trump administration’s recent emergency stay-open orders. (MPR News)

BRIBERY TRIAL

• A former FirstEnergy attorney testifies during former executives’ bribery trial that the utility paid Sam Randazzo, a consultant who later became the state’s top utility regulator, millions to do virtually nothing while acting on behalf of the company. (Cleveland.com)

• The president of an Ohio energy consulting firm and chairman of a powerful lobbying group representing large energy users says Randazzo skimmed millions of dollars of FirstEnergy’s money off his clients. (Signal Ohio)

OVERSIGHT

• Wisconsin Republican lawmakers are preparing legislation to prevent energy regulators from taking jobs with utilities or transmission companies within three years of leaving office. (Wisconsin Public Radio)

DATA CENTERS

• Dozens of Wisconsin residents tell state regulators that We Energies’ proposed rates for data centers would still leave customers subsidizing facilities’ infrastructure costs. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

FOSSIL FUELS

• The CEO of South Dakota utility NorthWest Energy says data centers will prolong the use of fossil fuel plants and lead to new ones while presenting an opportunity for utilities to capitalize after years of flat power demand. (South Dakota Searchlight)

HYDROELECTRIC

• Ratepayer advocates and environmental groups question Consumers Energy’s plan to sell 13 Michigan hydroelectric dams to a private equity firm for $1 each, saying in the long run the deal will not be the cheapest option for customers. (Bridge)

NUCLEAR

• Missing documentation for some of the repair work related to the restart of Holtec’s Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan could further delay the timeline. (MLive)

• Northern Michigan officials adopt a preemptive moratorium on data centers out of concerns that a developer might propose plans on the site of a former nuclear plant. (MLive)

CLIMATE

• Dayton, Ohio, and the University of Dayton are accepting applications for grant funding to benefit local climate resilience efforts. (WYSO)