Minnesota saves community solar

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

SOLAR

• Minnesota advocates say terminating language in a state bill that would have phased out the state’s successful community solar program will preserve 500 MW of planned projects. (Canary Media)

CLIMATE

• Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, who, along with her husband, was shot and killed by a gunman in their home, played a key role in passing bills that helped make the state a national leader in clean energy. (Canary Media)

GRID

• North Dakota regulators deny landowners’ request to reconsider permits previously approved for a $440 million, 95-mile transmission project. (Inforum)

• North Dakota will spend $150 million from its oil and gas revenue-funded Legacy Fund into various infrastructure projects, including for the energy and technology industries. (North Dakota Monitor)

COAL

• Michigan’s attorney general and environmental groups file separate requests for a rehearing over the Energy Department’s recent order to keep a large coal plant operating beyond its previous May 31 closure date. (Ottawa News Network)

CLEAN ENERGY

• An Illinois job training program equips participants with clean energy industry skills and was included in a 2021 climate change bill to lift up disadvantaged communities. (Chicago Tribune)

• Developers canceled $1.4 billion in clean energy projects in May, signifying concerns over continued policy uncertainty from the Trump administration. (E&E News)

OIL & GAS

• Federal authorities are working to contain an oil spill in a tributary of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, that may have come from a former nearby refinery. (Cleveland.com)

PIPELINES

• Public comments will close soon on the U.S. Army Corps’ draft environmental review of the potential effects of boring an underground tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac to house the Line 5 pipeline. (Interlochen Public Radio)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• An Indiana group completes a statewide tour informing communities that millions of dollars in electric vehicle charging funding is still available despite the Trump administration’s move to halt federal EV charging grants. (WFYI)

NUCLEAR

• Reopening a Michigan nuclear plant rekindles fears among some nearby residents about the potential health impacts from the plant they assumed would retire for good. (Michigan Public)

UTILITIES

• Michigan regulators and utilities say the state’s relatively high electric rates don’t tell the full story behind household energy bills, which remain below the national average. (MLive)

COMMENTARY

• Despite Gov. Kim Reynolds’ veto, an Iowa bill that would have clamped down on eminent domain for carbon pipeline projects shows the power of public pressure and is an inspiration for other states, the Sierra Club’s executive director writes. (Chicago Sun-Times)

NEW FROM CANARY

• The Senate’s version of the ​“Big, Beautiful Bill” is a little gentler on clean energy, containing positives for battery storage, but still will gut hydrogen, EV, and home electrification incentives, Kathryn Krawczyk reports.

• Colorado landscapers are making the transition to electric lawn equipment after new state regulations went into effect this month, Alison F. Takemura reports.