CLEAN ENERGY: A Minnesota green bank with $100 million in capital could create up to 15,000 jobs, according to a new report meant to address concerns about the financing option used in other states. (Energy News Network)

ALSO:
• Nebraska’s clean energy transition picks up speed as another large utility recently adopted a net zero emissions goal by 2040. (InsideClimate News)
• A 13,500 square foot nature center opened earlier this year as Minnesota’s second net zero building. (Finance & Commerce)

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GRID: Decarbonizing the power sector by 2035 could be cheaper than expected as most U.S. fossil fuel plants are expected to reach the end of their typical lifespan by then. (Energy News Network)

SOLAR:
• State regulators approve plans for a 200 MW solar project in southeastern Wisconsin that could also include the state’s first utility-scale battery storage. (Wisconsin State Journal)
• Illinois regulators vote to reopen full retail net metering for Ameren customers after rejecting the utility’s proposed number of solar net metering customers in its territory. (Solar Power World)
• Wisconsin county officials approve plans for a 75 MW solar project that will eventually be sold to Alliant Energy. (Wisconsin State Journal)

OHIO: A board member of an AEP-funded nonprofit in Ohio says the group at the center of the power plant bribery scandal violated an agreement that said funding must be used in compliance with federal laws for social welfare purposes only. (Columbus Dispatch)

COAL:
• An Indiana energy company that owns six coal mines files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (Evansville Courier & Press)
• Xcel Energy stops burning coal at a 20 MW northern Wisconsin power plant that will now rely on biomass and natural gas as fuel sources. (Wisconsin State Journal)
• A federal judge will allow DTE Energy and the Sierra Club to proceed with a deal to close three coal plants by the end of 2022, despite objections from the Trump administration. (E&E News, subscription)

PIPELINES:
•  Health professionals ask Minnesota officials to halt construction on the Line 3 pipeline because of concerns over out-of-state workers spreading COVID-19. (Star Tribune)
• A company seeks to expand the capacity of a natural gas liquids pipeline that connects to a North Dakota gas processing plant. (Bismarck Tribune)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The Michigan House strips language from a bill that would have allowed Tesla to sell vehicles directly to customers in the state under a prior settlement with the attorney general and secretary of state. (Detroit News)

COMMENTARY:
• Illinois needs a “smarter way to regulate utility rates” that “keeps costs reasonable and rewards utilities for speeding Illinois toward a future of clean energy,” an editorial board says. (Chicago Sun-Times)
• The former president of an Ohio economic development organization says investing in clean energy is “just plain good for local jobs and economies.” (Toledo Blade)