Catch the latest energy news from around the region. Check back for these monthly Energy News Roundups.
Michigan is taking on oil companies. Its approach hasn’t been tried before. In a lawsuit filed in federal court, the state’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, accused four companies and an industry lobbying group of forming a “cartel” and colluding to undermine research on climate change and suppress the growth of renewable energy and electric vehicles. Michigan has some of the highest electricity rates in the region, and the measures the companies took to prevent competition with gasoline vehicles inflated costs for ratepayers, the suit alleged.
A bribery trial is underway in Ohio for two former FirstEnergy executives accused of orchestrating the largest public corruption scheme in state history. Prosecutors allege former CEO Chuck Jones and senior vice president Michael Dowling paid a $4.3 million bribe to Sam Randazzo, the former chairman of Ohio’s Public Utilities Commission. Attorneys for former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, who was convicted in federal court of taking a $61 million bribe from FirstEnergy in exchange for favorable legislation, said he is open to taking a plea deal to avoid a state trial.
Burning trash and wood for electricity can officially qualify as carbon-free in Minnesota. The state’s 2023 clean energy law requires all electricity generated in Minnesota to come from carbon-free sources by 2040. State utility regulators decided burning trash or biomass can be considered carbon-free under the law if a life-cycle analysis shows burning would result in fewer carbon emissions than another disposal method. Only a tiny fraction of Minnesota’s power comes from burning trash and biomass, but environmental groups are concerned the practice will become more widespread as a result of regulators’ decision.
Another shuttered nuclear site is attracting notice. This time, it’s in Wisconsin. EnergySolutions, the Utah company that owns the Kewaunee Power Station site near Lake Michigan, announced it has notified federal regulators of its plans to pursue new nuclear generation at the site. In a statement, Ken Robuck, the company’s president and CEO, called the notice an “important milestone” for nuclear power in Wisconsin. EnergySolutions is currently studying the site’s “suitability for new nuclear construction,” he said.
And months after Michigan announced it was canceling support for a controversial EV battery plant due to its lack of progress, both sides are saying they’re owed money. Nessel, the state’s attorney general, has joined the effort to recover millions in incentives paid to Gotion, Inc. for the central Michigan factory. Gotion said in a court filing that it plans to seek damages from the township where the factory was proposed, arguing the delay was the township’s fault. The company appears to have abandoned the project.
More energy news, in case you missed it:
- Federal regulators are nearing a decision on the proposed Line 5 pipeline tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac.
- Ontario is fast-tracking a proposed nickel mine, which its developer said could start construction later this year and be operational by the end of 2028.
- Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed an energy reform package that will fund battery storage and lift the state’s moratorium on large nuclear plants, among other measures.
- Crews demolished multiple units of the more than 2,000-megawatt W. H. Sammis coal plant in eastern Ohio following the plant’s closure a few years ago.
- Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said he wants more data centers built in the state — and more protections in place for ratepayers.