Indiana coal plant owner didn’t want an extension

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.

COAL

• The Department of Energy ordered the continued operation of an Indiana coal plant unit in March despite objections from plant owner CenterPoint Energy, which said the facility is unreliable and needs costly investments. (E&E News)

MINING

• The U.S. Senate narrowly votes to end a Biden-era moratorium on mining in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota, removing a key hurdle for Twin Metals’ efforts to extract copper, nickel, and other metals in the region. (Inside Climate News)

EFFICIENCY

• Federal regulators order American Efficient and affiliates to pay about $1.1 billion for a fraudulent scheme that violated PJM and MISO market rules by bidding energy-efficiency resources they didn’t control into capacity markets. (Utility Dive)

SOLAR

• An Illinois county board approves plans for a 260-MW, 2,400-acre solar project in rural townships south of Chicago while also reversing previous denials of six other solar projects. (Chicago Tribune)

CLEAN ENERGY

• The Michigan Court of Appeals hears oral arguments in a case in which dozens of municipalities are challenging a new law giving state regulators more power to approve renewable energy projects. (E&E News)

• Ohio Senate lawmakers take up legislation to create a pilot community power program that backers say would bring new generation like solar and biomass online quicker. (Ohio Capital Journal)

NUCLEAR

• Iowa House lawmakers approve sales tax exemptions for new nuclear power plant construction as well as a project to reopen a nuclear plant that’s been closed for six years. (Radio Iowa)

• Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly plans to partner with the state of Indiana on deploying small modular reactors to help meet the company’s energy needs. (Axios)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Wisconsin officials say they’re making progress on the buildout of a statewide EV charging network meant to ease range anxiety among drivers. (Wisconsin Public Radio)

UTILITIES

• Michigan Democrats propose legislation to create a three-year freeze between utility rate increase requests as a way to limit rising costs for ratepayers. (MLive)

DATA CENTERS

• North Dakota regulators give preliminary approval to start work on $110 million in power grid projects to support a new data center near Fargo. (North Dakota Monitor)

• Another Wisconsin data center project advances and state regulators consider new utility rate proposals for users as public polling shows declining public support for data centers in the state. (Wisconsin Public Radio)

PIPELINES

• The Trump administration issues a presidential permit for Enbridge’s Line 5 to cross an international boundary in southeastern Michigan, which critics say will do little to lower energy costs. (Michigan Advance)

• Landowners call on Iowa regulators to reject a proposed amendment to Summit Carbon Solutions’ multi-state carbon pipeline permit that required construction approval in neighboring states before proceeding. (KCCI)

NEW FROM CANARY

• What to know before you get balcony solar — Alison F. Takemura

• China exports a ton of cleantech — and the world is poised to want more — Dan McCarthy

• Federal policy on biofuels goes from bad to worse under Trump — Michael Grunwald

• Big grid batteries are finally on a roll in New England — Julian Spector