In Indiana, gas is clean energy now

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Midwest Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

FOSSIL FUELS

• A new Indiana law defines natural gas and propane as clean energy in an effort to help projects secure federal funding typically set aside for renewable energy. (Indianapolis Star)

• Indiana Michigan Power seeks permission from Indiana regulators to buy an 870 MW natural gas plant as part of its long-term energy plan. (Power Engineering)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Chicago’s draft electric vehicle charging plan includes short-term goals to make public charging more accessible and investing in neighborhoods disproportionately affected by air pollution. (Smart Cities Dive)

PIPELINES

• The Keystone pipeline operator restarts the pipeline less than a week after it ruptured and spilled thousands of barrels of crude oil in North Dakota. (E&E News)

NUCLEAR

• Indiana Gov. Mike Braun signs a bill that would allow utilities to recover development costs for small nuclear reactors before they’re built, which ratepayers advocates call a ​“really egregious” decision that does little to address energy affordability. (Indianapolis Star)

• Critics say a separate Indiana bill that would remove zoning restrictions when siting new power plants is targeted at making small modular reactors easier to build. (Statehouse File)

COAL

• Nearly 70 U.S. coal plants get a two-year exemption from updated limits on toxic pollutants following an order from President Trump. (E&E News)

SOLAR

• Global investment manager Apollo commits $400 million to form a joint venture with developer Summit Ridge Energy to own and operate a portfolio of commercial solar projects in Illinois. (PV Magazine)

BIOGAS

• Biogas advocates want to make the process of capturing methane from landfills and converting it into renewable natural gas more accessible for smaller facilities. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

COMMENTARY

• The Trump administration’s effort to roll back environmental justice programs and gut staff at the EPA threatens public health and safety across Michigan, an environmental justice advocate writes. (Planet Detroit)

• Michigan should reject Enbridge’s permit applications for a Line 5 tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac that ignore state environmental law and threaten natural resources, a clean energy advocate writes. (Detroit Free Press)