Ohio regulators shrug off fabricated solar opposition

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

• Critics of an Ohio decision rejecting plans for a 94 MW solar project are troubled that regulators basically shrugged off the fact that a significant number of public comments appear to be fabricated. (Canary Media)

• Microsoft secures the full output of a new 150 MW Illinois solar project under a long-term power purchase agreement. (Solar Power World)

DECARBONIZATION

• An Ohio steelmaking plant appears poised to refurbish its old coal-fired blast furnace and prolong its use of fossil fuels, while still using Biden-era grant money that was intended for industrial decarbonization. (Canary Media)

OIL & GAS

• Documents indicate energy developer Tenaska will build a utility-scale gas plant to power a massive Google data center in Nebraska, (Grist)

• Kansas regulators take over the cleanup of 240,000 gallons of a crude oil and brine mixture that spilled into a river last month. (KSNW)

GRID

• MISO reverses a previous decision and will now allow ATC to build substations across eastern Wisconsin, a victory for the transmission developer as firms clamor over who gets to build out the grid for data centers. (Wisconsin Watch)

BIOGAS

• A major Wisconsin bioenergy plant that produces renewable natural gas from farm manure emits a sizable amount of methane annually, raising questions about the facilities’ role as a climate solution. (The New Lede)

CORRUPTION TRIAL

• Jurors in the corruption trial of two former FirstEnergy executives signal they may be deadlocked over a central allegation of bribery. (Signal Ohio)

CARBON CAPTURE

• Tenaska is working to accumulate thousands of acres in southeast Nebraska for what appears to be a gas plant to power a Google data center and may also include a major carbon storage operation. (Grist/​Flatwater Free Press)

DATA CENTERS

• DTE Energy’s proposed contracts with Google for a 1 GW data center in Michigan that includes commitments that the tech giant would pay for 2.7 GW of clean energy is a step in the right direction, clean energy advocates say. (MLive)

• GOP South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden signs legislation with new requirements for large data centers to ensure water use does not overburden supplies and electric rates don’t increase for ratepayers. (South Dakota Searchlight)

• Illinois regulators agree to increase the fee that data centers pay for application deposits and open a broader investigation into how to protect ratepayers from rising electricity costs. (E&E News)

UTILITIES

• Indiana regulators begin hearings across the state for utility executives to explain rising rates to customers, which took their highest year-over-year jump in 2025 since 2005. (Indianapolis Star)

NUCLEAR

• North Dakota lawmakers want a better understanding of the state’s options for nuclear waste storage as interest grows about building nuclear power plants there. (North Dakota Monitor)

CLIMATE

• Iowa lawmakers send Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds legislation restricting lawsuits against agricultural operations over their greenhouse gas emissions’ effect on the climate. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

COAL

• Costs continue to climb as the Department of Energy extends an order keeping two Indiana coal plants open past their retirement dates. (Indianapolis Star)