PJM’s price woes may have a fix

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

• Pushing data centers to pay for clean energy, batteries and fossil-fueled plants may be PJM’s best hope for solving skyrocketing capacity prices. (Canary Media)

• Wisconsin’s largest transmission operator, ATC, asks federal regulators to force MISO to rework its construction bidding process as companies compete over who gets to build increasingly necessary grid infrastructure. (Wisconsin Watch)

PIPELINES

• Michigan, led by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, issues two key permits for a proposed underground tunnel to house the Line 5 pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac, drawing outrage from tribes and environmental groups who vow to sue. (Bridge)

UTILITIES

• Indiana regulators launch investigations into the return on equity utilities earn and their use of trackers to allow certain expenses as state officials sharpen their focus on energy affordability. (Utility Dive)

• The results of PJM’s latest capacity auction will keep Ohio electricity prices near record highs. (Cleveland.com)

DATA CENTERS

• Residents in a northwestern Ohio township keep up what may be a fruitless effort to stop a $500 million Google data center already under construction. (Signal Ohio)

• Tech giant Oracle’s credit rating is downgraded as the company fights Wisconsin regulators’ new credit rating requirements and its rapid AI infrastructure buildout is questioned. (Wisconsin Watch)

• Madison Gas & Electric becomes the latest Wisconsin utility to file requests with state regulators to create separate rates for data centers to protect ratepayers from subsidizing projects. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

• A twelfth Nebraska county has now adopted a moratorium on data centers, as local officials look to finalize comprehensive zoning plans before allowing construction. (Nebraska Public Media)

• Indiana considers a request to power a forthcoming Meta data center with 134 MW of off-grid gas generators. (Indianapolis Star)

SOLAR

• A Des Moines Democratic lawmaker pushing plug-in solar legislation in Iowa says several Republicans have reached out to co-sponsor the bill since it was introduced in January. (Axios)

• Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) sues a solar company and financial institutions, alleging a solar financing scheme involving $81 million in transactions for in-home sales affected about 1,700 consumers. (MLive)

COAL

• Environmental groups say hazardous air quality from Canadian wildfire underscores the need to shut down fossil fuel plants in Michigan and transition to clean energy. (Public News Service)