Trump administration lifts up Midwest coal plants

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.

COAL

• The U.S. EPA plans to let 11 coal plants, including five across the Midwest, continue dumping toxic coal ash in unlined pits until 2031 in a bid to keep the facilities operating instead of closing under federal regulations. (Canary Media)

• The Trump administration’s latest orders to keep uneconomic coal plants operating would force some broken-down units to come back online, raising new legal and grid reliability concerns. (Canary Media)

OHIO

• The two convicted felons in the Ohio utility bribery scandal ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse their convictions, arguing that their actions on behalf of FirstEnergy in exchange for millions of dollars was protected speech. (Canary Media)

• Ohio regulators approve a settlement agreement that will end its House Bill 6-related investigations into FirstEnergy and provide utility customers with $249 million in restitution over three billing periods. (Akron Beacon Journal)

STORAGE

• Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs sweeping energy reforms into law that, among other measures, incentivize battery storage development and lift a moratorium on new large-scale nuclear construction. (Chicago Tribune)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• General Motors will take on $6 billion in costs for unused electric vehicle investments as a result of production changes it made last year. (Detroit Free Press)

NUCLEAR

• Meta announces that it will back the generation of 6.6 GW of nuclear power over the next decade, including through long-term power purchase agreements with nuclear plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania. (Reuters)

SOLAR

• Ameren receives public support for a proposed 250 MW solar project outside its Missouri nuclear plant. (St. Louis Public Radio)

DATA CENTERS

• Local officials in western Ohio table a vote on Amazon’s proposed $4 billion data center to get more details from the company related to water use and habitat impacts. (WYSO)

PIPELINES

• Michigan will appeal a federal judge’s ruling last month barring Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration from shutting down Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac. (MLive)

• Iowa lawmakers again plan to take up legislation to resolve landowner concerns around the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines after years of gridlock on the issue. (KCCI)

GRID

• Two power companies ask North Dakota regulators to determine that some local ordinances along a proposed 92-mile power line are overly restrictive and threaten the viability of the project. (North Dakota Monitor)

• Some south-central Kansas residents voice concerns over plans for a proposed 133-mile transmission project that Evergy says is needed to improve grid reliability, particularly in the face of growing extreme weather. (KSNW)

OVERSIGHT

• A Michigan Republican candidate for governor proposes expanding the state’s Public Service Commission from three to five members and repealing a state law giving them power to decide renewable energy zoning. (Michigan Public)