7 March 2025 • Supported by

SOLAR

• At least five large Ohio solar projects have been canceled over the past 15 months, and the latest example shows how developers have few options when state regulators give deference to local opponents. (Canary Media)

PIPELINES

• South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden signs a bill banning the use of eminent domain for carbon pipeline projects, complicating plans for a multi-state pipeline developer who says the state “changed the rules in the middle of the game.” (South Dakota Searchlight)
• Iowa lawmakers advance a similar bill specifying that carbon pipelines would not be a public use and qualify for using eminent domain. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

• A Chicago environmental justice activist whose mother helped launch the movement to raise awareness about polluting industries disproportionately harming minority communities vows to press on as the Trump administration pulls back support for the cause. (Chicago Sun-Times)

UTILITIES

• Critics say a Missouri bill that would allow utilities to recover costs for construction work in progress is a cash grab by utilities that would harm ratepayers. (Missouri Independent)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• A University of Michigan electric vehicle training center works with large automakers to help fill gaps in the labor market ahead of the anticipated and eventual shift to more EVs, despite the latest policy efforts from the Trump administration to slow the transition. (States Newsroom)

CLEAN ENERGY

• At least six clean energy projects in Michigan have been canceled or put at risk by the Trump administration, which has now threatened more than 40,000 clean energy jobs across the U.S. since taking office, according to a climate communications group. (Michigan Advance)

WIND

• A developer renews plans for a 47-turbine wind project in an area of central Michigan where previous efforts were unsuccessful. (WOOD-TV)

NUCLEAR

• Iowa energy legislation proposed by Gov. Kim Reynolds includes a focus on advanced reactors, improved permitting and workforce strategies to boost the state’s nuclear generation. (Business Record) 

GRID

• Utilities’ grid infrastructure upgrades underway to accommodate data centers are already reaching customers’ bills, to the benefit of utilities that earn a return on those investments, a Harvard University study finds. (E&E News)

CLEAN ENERGY

• The head of the American Clean Power Association hopes all-of-the-above messaging can now work in clean energy advocates’ favor as they seek to preserve Biden administration efforts under the Inflation Reduction Act that brought clean energy investments to red states. (Newsweek)

OVERSIGHT

• The Trump administration’s effort to unravel centralized oversight on whether projects comply with federal environmental law to improve government efficiency will likely actually slow development and be a “huge mistake,” experts say. (Grist)

COMMENTARY

• The head of a land acquisition consulting firm says Iowa needs a statewide renewable energy siting law to add more utility-scale renewable energy projects and attract new business opportunities. (Des Moines Register)