Ohio court upholds coal plant charges

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.

UTILITIES

• Ohio’s Supreme Court rules in favor of utilities Duke Energy, AES Ohio, and AEP Ohio, saying it was warranted to charge their customers $115 million for the upkeep of two 1950s-era coal plants. (Cleveland.com)

• Ohio utility regulators reject FirstEnergy’s attempt to weaken power reliability standards amid overwhelming opposition from residents, consumer advocates, and local leaders. (Cleveland.com)

• Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) vetoes a bill that would’ve weakened consumer protection standards for utility submetering companies that buy discounted power in bulk and sell it back to multi-unit buildings at a higher rate. (Signal)

• Missouri utility regulators will meet with nonprofits and consumer advocates to find ways to better distribute utility assistance after a study found a third of state residents say they don’t make enough to get by. (News Tribune)

• South Dakota utility regulators approve the merger of investor-owned utilities NorthWestern Energy and Black Hills Energy. (news release)

• More than 100 Milwaukee residents join a hearing as the city considers replacing We Energies with a municipal electric utility. (BizTimes)

STORAGE

• Texas startup Base Power is bringing its low-cost home battery model to Illinois, promising installations at a fraction of their typical $10,000-plus price tag to help residents secure cleaner, cheaper power, while the company deploys those batteries as an aggregated grid resource. (Canary Media)

PIPELINES

• The federal government will pay North Dakota $28 million to settle a lawsuit over federal policing of Dakota Access pipeline protests a decade ago. (MPR News)

SOLAR

• A Minnesota sheep farmer says grazing his flock at solar farms allowed him to follow his farming dreams without the need to buy tons of expensive land. (AgWeek)

TRANSMISSION

• Construction of a 226-mile power line remains stalled in parts of Nebraska’s Sandhills region as a lawsuit from local ranchers and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe plays out. (Flatwater Free Press)

FOSSIL FUELS

• The Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission will vote Monday on whether to open up 23,000 acres of public lands to fracking. (Signal)

• Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signs a law that will speed permitting of fracking projects in state parks and wildlife areas. (Cleveland.com)