Michigan EV fees now highest in the nation

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.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Annual EV registration fees in Michigan jump to the highest in the country as part of a new statewide road funding plan, a move critics say amounts to an unfair tax on EV drivers. (Bridge)

MINING

• Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration are attempting to overturn the Biden administration’s 20-year ban on copper and nickel mining in northern Minnesota near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. (MPR News)

DATA CENTERS

• Michigan’s Democratic attorney general and environmental and consumer advocates ask state regulators to revisit their approval of DTE Energy’s power supply contracts for a massive proposed data center. (Michigan Advance)

• Minnesota community advocates say Minnesota Power failed to adequately disclose information about a proposed hyperscale data center as the utility looks to sell to private equity investors. (The Globe)

SOLAR

• St. Paul, Minnesota, spends $475,000 on dozens of updated public trash cans that include solar-powered compactors and other internal tech. (Pioneer Press)

• A University of Wisconsin campus is ready to bring online a solar project that’s expected to save $45,000 a year in energy costs. (Superior Telegram)

GRID

• The Union of Concerned Scientists releases a new analysis finding climate change was the culprit behind the 10 more severe grid outages across MISO’s footprint since 2014. (RTO Insider)

• Xcel Energy CEO Ben Frenzel says expanding the U.S. power grid to support data center expansion is necessary but first needs buy-in from elected officials and local governments. (E&E News)

• Grid operator MISO selects a joint venture between BHE Transmission and Transource Energy to build a nearly 200-mile transmission line across Nebraska. (Daily Energy Insider)

UTILITIES

• We Energies customers experience a spike in utility bills after record cold weather and as gas costs and rates continue to rise. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

• Suburban Chicago gas utility Nicor seeks a rate increase for upgrading infrastructure, less than two months after Illinois regulators approved the utility’s request to increase rates roughly $11 per month. (Chicago Sun-Times)

COMMENTARY

• Illinois data center development must be carefully considered to avoid harming grid reliability and affordability for customers, an editorial board writes. (Chicago Tribune)

NEW FROM CANARY

• 2025 wasn’t a great year for green steel ambitions. What happens now? — Maria Gallucci

• The biggest US solar-storage project yet takes shape in California — Jeff St. John

• Finally, New England’s clean-energy transmission line is ready to go — Sarah Shemkus

• Clean energy will take center stage in Virginia’s legislature this year — Elizabeth Ouzts

• How Trump’s offshore wind halt is derailing his party’s energy agenda — Kathryn Krawczyk