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Missouri looks to freeze out solar

By Andy Balaskovitz

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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.

SOLAR

  • Missouri lawmakers debate contentious bills to halt commercial solar development and significantly limit future development on farmland, where projects are sharply dividing residents. (Missouri Independent)
  • A New York developer buys a 1.56 GW Illinois solar project that will be among the largest solar sites in the U.S. once complete. (PV-Tech)
  • A developer seeking to lease land from Green Bay, Wisconsin, for a 5 MW solar project says city officials’ proposed lease terms would be too expensive to make the project viable. (Green Bay Press Gazette)

UTILITIES

  • Attorneys for former top First Energy executives argue in opening statements of their corruption trial that the alleged bribe they paid to a former attorney who would become Ohio’s top utility regulator was in fact stolen from a former client. (Signal Ohio)

GRID

  • Iowa lawmakers advance virtual power plant legislation that would allow for the operation of customer-owned systems such as batteries that can help manage and optimize the power grid. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

OIL & GAS

  • A growing number of North Dakota projects plan to extract lithium from oil and gas wastewater. (North Dakota Monitor)
  • The Trump administration’s move last year to slash the royalty rate on oil and gas drilling on public land by 25% will cost taxpayers nearly $500 million in the years ahead. (E&E News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

  • The federal budget bill working its way to President Trump includes about $900 million in cuts related to electric transportation, including $500 million for a national program to build out charging infrastructure. (Inside Climate News)

DATA CENTERS

  • Ohio regulators approve plans for a 350 MW natural gas plant with 120 MW of battery storage that would directly power a nearby data center and not connect to the grid. (Scioto Post)
  • Indiana Republicans advance legislation to allow large projects such as data centers, refineries, and solar arrays on poor-quality farmland without local approval. (WSBT)

FOSSIL FUELS

  • Ameren Missouri plans major upgrades to aging natural gas infrastructure in two cities to upgrade to modern materials. (KCGR)

COMMENTARY

  • Repurposing former mines for solar projects and allowing solar generation on grazing land are among strategies Indiana can pursue to boost clean energy production while benefitting communities, a clean energy advocate writes. (Indiana Capital Chronicle)

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