What’s next for Illinois solar and storage bill?

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

SOLAR

• Proponents of an Illinois clean energy bill that failed to advance last session say that, despite cost concerns, the law would have actually lowered prices for consumers by bringing solar, storage, and efficiency online quicker than alternatives. (Canary Media)

• Cutting federal clean energy tax credits could devastate Ohio’s growing solar manufacturing industry and eliminate about 70% of the state’s 8,000-person solar workforce, according to a solar trade group. (WOSU)

UTILITIES

• More than $500 million in fines for FirstEnergy and Ohio regulators’ credibility are at stake as regulators begin hearings on the company’s role in the House Bill 6 scandal. (Canary Media)

• A former FirstEnergy executive testifies during the hearing that he was unclear on the extent the company’s former CEO could have exerted influence over the state’s former top regulator. (Ohio Capital Journal)

NUCLEAR

• Meeting new demand forecasts has turbocharged efforts in state legislatures to incentivize nuclear energy development. (E&E News)

CLIMATE

• Minnesota’s former state House Speaker who was assassinated in her home on Saturday is remembered as a major power behind the state’s climate policies. (E&E News)

CARBON CAPTURE

• BP cites several factors for canceling plans for a carbon capture and storage project that would have required a pipeline to run through hundreds of miles in six Indiana counties. (Chicago Tribune)

DATA CENTERS

• In addition to rising electricity needs, advocates also raise concerns about the amount of fresh water new Illinois data center complexes would need and potential strain on municipal systems. (Inside Climate News)

POLITICS

• Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is sentenced to 7.5 years in prison for various corruption charges that included benefiting from a bribery scheme with former ComEd officials in exchange for favorable legislation. (Capitol News Illinois)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• A southern Illinois school district will roll out 25 new electric buses in the next school year as part of a roughly $10 million project. (Belleville News-Democrat)

• North and South Dakota have the lowest EV fast-charger utilization rates in the country as installations are more common in urban and metropolitan, rather than rural, areas. (Daily Yonder)

EFFICIENCY

• An event last week celebrated Detroit’s largest projects deploying energy efficiency measures to cut energy costs, which include Ford Field and a new convention center downtown. (Planet Detroit)

COMMENTARY

• Ohio regulators’ hearings on the HB 6 scandal are an opportunity to examine the rubberstamp approval process for new utility charges, an editorial board writes. (Toledo Blade)

NEW FROM CANARY

• The EPA’s proposed rollback of power plant emissions rules threatens to have severe health and climate consequences, though a long legal road still lies ahead, Kathryn Krawczyk reports.