Illinois’ prison-to-solar jobs pipeline

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

• A Chicago nonprofit that helps formerly incarcerated people get jobs and has been part of Illinois’ clean energy job training efforts has certified more than 100 people in the past three years for jobs in solar and other clean-energy industries. (Canary Media)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Cuyahoga County in northeastern Ohio is seeking a $7.5 million loan from the regional energy aggregator to advance construction on solar and other clean energy projects before it receives millions in federal funding. (Cleveland.com)

DATA CENTERS

• A 390-MW Google data center under development in Indiana that will require $737 million in new generation, storage, and grid infrastructure raises questions about whether the company will pay all of those costs. (Utility Dive)
• Legislation to create statewide data center guardrails in Michigan is likely to resurface in 2027 when Democrats control the House and Senate. (Detroit Free Press)
• The economic development agency and developer behind a proposed $10 billion data center outside Lansing, Michigan, has abandoned the plan after swift public pushback. (MLive)
• A South Dakota Republican state lawmaker, who also works as an Xcel Energy executive, criticizes a legislative report on data centers that highlights disagreement over impacts on electricity costs and energy and water use. (South Dakota Searchlight)

STORAGE

• County officials in eastern Iowa consider hiking rezoning fees for grid storage projects to $50,000, plus $200 per megawatt, to recoup the amount of staff and county resources the projects require. (Iowa Public Radio)

UTILITIES

• AES Indiana officials say state regulators’ move to reopen a previous rate case over concerns about the utility’s sale as well as a Google data center could send negative signals to credit rating agencies and ultimately raise borrowing costs that could harm customers. (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
• Peoples Gas customers in Chicago will get $125 million in gas bill credits over three years under a settlement with the Illinois attorney general involving surcharges from a pipeline retirement program. (Capitol News Illinois)
• The vice chair of Minnesota’s Public Utilities Commission says energy affordability is the top challenge before regulators now, as grid infrastructure and power generation need upgrades. (Utility Dive)

NUCLEAR

• Indiana economic development officials face pushback from state lawmakers who raised concerns that a land deal to support an Oklo manufacturing site may include small scale nuclear reactors in the future. (Indianapolis Star)

BIOFUELS

• The head of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association is optimistic that the state’s new Democratic-majority congressional delegation and new governor will support the biofuel industry as outgoing leaders have. (Radio Iowa)