Is a 9.2 GW gas plant even possible?

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.

FOSSIL FUELS

• Critics doubt that the Trump administration’s announcement of a 9.2 GW Ohio gas plant would actually get built in the midst of supply chain, equipment availability, and grid connection hurdles. (Canary Media)

CORRUPTION TRIAL

• The jury is now deliberating in the corruption trial of two former FirstEnergy executives who allegedly bribed a future state energy regulator in exchange for favorable treatment. (Signal Ohio)

STORAGE

• LG Energy Solution inks a $4.3 billion deal to supply Tesla with grid storage batteries made at a plant in Lansing, Michigan, that was originally built to make EV batteries. (Bridge)

• Major clean energy investor Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners plans a more than $1 billion investment in southeastern Michigan to bring 1 gigawatt of storage to the grid over the next several years. (Crain’s Detroit)

COAL

• Environmental groups file a pair of lawsuits asking a federal appeals court to reverse the Department of Energy’s orders to keep units operating at two Indiana coal plants. (E&E News)

EFFICIENCY

• Indianapolis will now make an energy use reporting program for commercial building owners voluntary after pressure from state lawmakers. (Indianapolis Star)

SOLAR

• Michigan potato growers are raising concerns about solar development’s short- and long-term impacts on farmland, noting that processors won’t accept crops on ground housing solar because of risk to consumers. (Brownfield Ag)

DATA CENTERS

• Google comes forward as the prospective end user of a 1 GW data center in southeastern Michigan, under a deal with DTE Energy that executives say would lower costs for ratepayers and include investments in home weatherization. (Bridge)

• The Detroit City Council urges Mayor Mary Sheffield to enact a two-year moratorium on data center projects until full scope of project details and potential environmental risks are identified. (Bridge Detroit)

CLIMATE

• Climate change could cost Minnesota residents, farmers, businesses, and local governments $20 billion annually by 2040 without mitigation and adaptation investments, according to a new state report. (MPR News)

UTILIITIES

• An Ann Arbor, Michigan, neighborhood is piloting a sustainable energy utility program where the city would install solar, storage, and other infrastructure on homes to create a distributed clean energy network on the existing grid. (Grist)

• Indianapolis residents fear their rising electric bills will get even worse if AES is acquired by a private equity-backed investor that’s also pursuing data center development. (Mirror Indy)