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Missouri regulators OK large gas, solar investment

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.

GRID

  • Missouri regulators approve Evergy’s request to build three natural gas plants and two solar projects as part of the utility’s more than $2.75 billion infrastructure plan. (Kansas Reflector)

STORAGE

  • General Motors pursues energy storage applications for its electric vehicle batteries to find new revenue streams amid slower-than-expected demand for EVs. (Detroit Free Press)

OIL & GAS

  • North Dakota mineral owners say oil companies are unfairly withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties, and state officials have failed to take action to protect private mineral owners. (ProPublica/​North Dakota Monitor)

  • A pair of utilities partner to build and operate a $10 million gas pipeline to serve a fuel cell facility that will power an Ohio data center. (Data Center Dynamics)

ELECTRIFICATION

  • Chicago suburb Oak Park, which was the first Midwest municipality to pass an ordinance banning natural gas hookups, faces an ongoing legal challenge by building trades and real estate groups. (Chicago Sun-Times)

COAL

  • The Trump administration announces plans for a coal lease sale to provide winning bidders access to millions of tons of coal reserves at a North Dakota mine. (E&E News)

OVERSIGHT

  • Michigan environmental groups accuse Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of replacing a clean energy ally on the state’s utility regulatory board because of concerns from investor-owned utility DTE Energy. (The Guardian)

POLITICS

  • Congressional Democrats hope to get Republicans onboard with their latest attempt to terminate President Trump’s energy emergency, which they are blaming for rising electricity prices. (E&E News)

NUCLEAR

  • Xcel Energy says it will switch to cell phone alerts from outdoor sirens to notify the public about potential nuclear plant emergencies in what executives say is an improved safety measure. (MPR News)

UTILITIES

  • Vistra agrees to pay $38 million to wind down an ongoing federal inquiry into whether it manipulated prices in MISO’s capacity auction a decade ago. (RTO Insider)

SOLAR

  • A Michigan agency helped a Detroit church in a disadvantaged neighborhood secure a $13,000 reimbursement for a solar project that has cut its monthly electric bill down to a few dollars. (MLive)

COMMENTARY

  • University of Wisconsin researchers say the Great Lakes, where states handle leases and not the federal governments, still present an untapped opportunity for offshore wind power. (Ohio Capital Journal)

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