U.S. Senator: Cancellation of Grain Belt Express loan is ​“illegal”

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GRID

• New Mexico U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich argues the Trump administration’s cancellation of a $4.9 billion loan for Invenergy to build the Grain Belt Express power-line project from Kansas to Illinois is illegal and will erode the private sector’s already limited trust in the federal government. (Canary Media)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Federal regulators approve the sale of a coal-fired power plant on the Ohio River — said to be one of the dirtiest plants in the U.S. — from Blackstone and ArcLight Capital Partners to Bridgepoint subsidiary Energy Capital Partners, all four of which are private equity firms heavily invested in fossil fuels. (Ohio Capital Journal)

• Ohio’s utility watchdog for consumers and manufacturers calls on state regulators to audit $237 million in subsidies paid to the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation for two coal-fired power plants as part of a 2019 law to bail out two nuclear plants. (Statehouse News Bureau)

• North Dakota mineral rights owners struggle to determine what mining companies owe them in royalty payments, as a state program they pressed state lawmakers to create two years ago has failed to alleviate concerns about postproduction deductions. (ProPublica)

• Ohio Democratic lawmakers sponsor legislation to block oil and gas drilling under Lake Erie and state parks. (Ohio Capital Journal)

SOLAR

• Minnesota regulators approve site permits for 235 MW and 200 MW solar farms in the western part of the state. (Post Bulletin)

• Minnesota Power announces plans to build a 200 MW solar farm in North Dakota as it aims to shift to largely carbon-free sources in the next decade. (Dickinson Press)

• The Trump administration’s clawback of $7 billion in ​“Solar for All” funding to pay for solar installations in lower-income and disadvantaged communities includes $117 million in Indiana and $10 million that Cincinnati, Ohio, had planned to use for a community solar array on a landfill. (WFYI, WVXU)

• Mammoth Solar partners with Indiana state and county groups on a $1.2 million infrastructure grant for improvements to roads affected by its construction of a 1,600 MW solar farm, the largest in the U.S. (news release)

CLEAN ENERGY

• Tribes and organizations scramble to fund and finish clean energy projects as the Trump administration’s cuts to wind and solar incentives loom. (Grist)

• Purdue University Northwest launches a grant-funded program to support clean energy-related instruction at two Indiana high schools. (Chicago Tribune)

GEOTHERMAL

• Minnesota developers are moving forward with geothermal energy projects at a zoo and library, as well as larger projects in St. Paul, but up-front costs are preventing more residents and organizations from pursuing the technology. (Pioneer Press)

CLIMATE

• A storm with winds as high as 91 miles per hour hits Nebraska, killing one person and knocking out power to more than 34,000 customers. (Nebraska Public Media)

POLITICS

• Iowa’s attorney general leads a multistate letter questioning whether a net-zero carbon emissions standard for financial institutions violates state and federal laws limiting the use of environmental, social, and governance factors in developing investment strategies. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

COMMENTARY

• An Ohio climate reporter discusses her experience signing up for a home energy assessment of a more-than-100-year-old house outside Cleveland. (Associated Press)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• This hydrogen microgrid is the first of its kind. Is it a good idea? — Julian Spector

• Tech giants look to low-carbon cement to curb their huge climate impact — Maria Gallucci

• Building electrification and fast, affordable construction can coexist — Kathryn Krawczyk