Shifting goal posts for rural clean energy projects

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Midwest Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

CLEAN ENERGY

• Thousands of farmers who have submitted applications for federal grants to offset the costs of clean energy projects, including many that have been completed, are doubtful they will receive the funding after the Trump administration says the projects must align with its energy priorities. (Floodlight/​Barn Raiser)

• Michigan and Indiana, which both voted for Trump in the presidential election, are slated to receive the most clean energy investments per capita under Inflation Reduction Act programs the new administration wants to repeal. (Yale Climate Connections)

UTILITIES

• Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe is poised to sign legislation that would allow utilities to seek rate increases for in-progress power plants, even if they never get built. (The Beacon)

• Indiana ratepayer advocates say during a legislative hearing that a bill to fast-track large-load development projects like data centers doesn’t provide enough assurances that ratepayers would be protected from rising costs. (WTHI)

CLIMATE

• Minnesota, which was set to receive $25 million for its green bank from a $20 billion federal climate program, will move forward with loan applications as state officials fight the Trump administration in court. (Star Tribune)

COAL

• Illinois regulators say state officials can move forward with imposing a solution for cleaning up a power company’s coal ash storage site near Lake Michigan, potentially resolving a community’s long-time attempt to remediate the polluted site. (Chicago Tribune)

• Xcel Energy will refund customers $48 million for costs related to a 2011 equipment failure that sidelined a Minnesota coal plant for nearly two years and forced the utility to buy replacement power. (Star Tribune)

OIL & GAS

• Enbridge says it has found no active valve leaks along its Line 6 pipeline in Wisconsin as part of an investigation following a spill last year. (Wisconsin Public Radio)

• Crews mobilize to clean up an oil spill from a refinery in Ontario, Canada, that prompted alerts from public officials across the St. Clair River in eastern Michigan. (MLive)

GRID

• PJM’s new program to fast-track the interconnection process for development-ready power plants attracts 26.6 GW in proposals, including natural gas, nuclear, and battery storage. (Utility Dive)

POLITICS

• A judge plans to move forward with sentencing two former ComEd executives convicted of a conspiracy to bribe Illinois’ former House speaker, a move defense attorneys call reckless in light of the Trump administration’s ongoing review of a federal law at the center of the case. (Chicago Sun-Times)