Michigan coal plant gets another lifeline

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 Trump administration extends an order to keep a Michigan coal plant open past its retirement date in a move raising concerns among clean energy and environmental groups that it could be replicated elsewhere. (Canary Media)

• A Nebraska clean energy group starts a petition urging the Omaha Public Power District to stick to a 2026 planned closure date for a coal plant after it previously pledged to close the facility in 2023. (KMTV)

SOLAR

• Ohio regulators approve a 220 MW solar project outside Columbus and deny a rehearing hearing request on its previous approval of a 120 MW project. (WOSU; Knox Pages)

• Ohio regulators are expected to decide next week on a proposed $160 million solar project that regulatory staff recommended to reject and could be the seventh utility-scale project denied since 2021. (Signal Cleveland)

• A deal for a global asset manager to acquire Ceres Partners, a large U.S. farmland owner, includes 50,000 acres in Michigan as the new owner eyes opportunities for solar and data centers. (Crain’s)

NUCLEAR

• Indiana utility lobbying ramped up ahead of a successful effort to pass legislation that favored the development of nuclear power, records show. (Indianapolis Star)

PIPELINES

• A company receives a $500 million financial guarantee from North Dakota to build a gas pipeline that would deliver supplies to the eastern side of the state. (North Dakota Monitor)

• A longtime consultant and tunneling expert says more geological testing is needed before Enbridge should be permitted to build a tunnel for Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac. (Michigan Advance)

• Iowa carbon pipeline opponents keep up their opposition as state utility regulators hold their first regular monthly meeting in two years. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

UTILITIES

• Alternative electric suppliers have cost Illinois ratepayers who switch from ComEd and Ameren Illinois more than $2 billion over the past decade, according to a consumer watchdog. (Chicago Sun-Times)

CLIMATE

• Insurance industry officials defend recent homeowners insurance rate hikes and blame them on inflation and climate change, warning that new regulations in Illinois would be bad for consumers. (Capitol News Illinois)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Michigan regulators are considering how clean energy prices should be passed on to utility customers as part of a new law that could change utility bills and how fast the state shifts to clean energy, experts say. (Planet Detroit)

STORAGE

• An energy storage developer that’s built more than a dozen projects in New York and Texas eyes up to seven projects in Michigan as utility demand grows. (Crain’s)

BIOENERGY

• A Wisconsin waste-to-energy plant files for bankruptcy after a series of operational and financial problems caused losses of about $1 million per month. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• Chart: Yes, US power prices are rising. Don’t blame clean energy. — Dan McCarthy & Ysabelle Kempe

• Peak Energy’s new battery is cooler than lithium-ion systems — Julian Spector

• California’s biggest virtual power plant may get a funding reprieve — Jeff St. John