Midwest

Clean energy jobs

Chicago program helps people transition from prison to solar jobs

Safer Foundation is using funding from Illinois clean energy laws to give formerly incarcerated people the training and support they need to enter the workforce.

By Kari Lydersen .

10 November 2026

A man in a light-blue button down shirt stands in a high-ceilinged space with home-building materials — Mark Yates, president and CEO of the Safer Foundation, at one of its job-training sites in Chicago (Kari Lydersen/Canary Media)

Carbon capture

A Michigan utility’s iffy plan to trap CO2 from its new gas plants

DTE proposes building two gas plants to meet growing demand, claiming carbon capture and sequestration will help it reach state climate goals.

By Kari Lydersen . 4 November 2026
Clean industry

Meta strikes deal to help bring a low-carbon cement plant to Missouri

The tech giant will buy certificates from Fortera, which is working to build its first commercial plant. The strategy is catching on in the industrial sector.

By Maria Gallucci . 30 October 2026
Clean industry

From zoos to craft brews, Michigan looks to spur decarbonization

The state recently awarded nearly $1.9 million to help organizations investigate the best ways to slash emissions from heavy-duty industrial operations.

By Maria Gallucci . 29 October 2026
Energy equity

Price hikes aren’t all that’s at stake in FirstEnergy Ohio’s rate case

Advocates are entering the regulatory fray to push the utility company to commit to more equitable, reliable service that also furthers the clean energy transition.

By Kathiann M. Kowalski . 27 October 2026
Batteries

Illinois needs batteries. Will a new incentive program help?

New York has had success with a similar model, though Illinois’ first procurement under the new program resulted in less energy storage deals than hoped for.

By Kari Lydersen . 19 October 2026
Solar

How one Chicago program is diversifying the solar workforce

Founded by a former public-housing resident, the 548 Foundation provides training, stipends, and support to build Black generational wealth through clean energy.

By Kari Lydersen . 14 October 2026
Food and farms

How a reluctant Iowa farming county undid a ban on battery storage

Three brothers wanted to use some land for solar, batteries, and cattle grazing. First they had to convince local officials — and the community — to allow batteries.

By Julian Spector . 8 October 2026
Green steel

Mesabi Metallics to build a $15B lower-carbon steel mill in Iowa

The Minnesota mining firm will forgo traditional coal-based steelmaking at the facility — a step toward cleaning up production to compete on a global market.

By Brian Martucci . 29 September 2026
Solar

Ohio’s biggest solar project finally gets permit after long legal limbo

Regulators’ approval of Oak Run Solar after a court forced them to consider more evidence is a rare clean-energy win in a state where it's tough to build renewables.

By Kathiann M. Kowalski . 21 September 2026
Clean energy jobs

Illinois revamps clean energy jobs training for a shifting economy

State-funded hubs will focus on skills that can transfer to other sectors, like data centers. That may help workers as Trump policies threaten to upend job markets.

By Kari Lydersen . 16 September 2026