PIPELINES: A federal appeals court temporarily blocks the shutdown of the Dakota Access pipeline, set to begin next month, to allow parties in the case more time to file briefs. (NPR)

ALSO:
• North Dakota officials argue that shutting down Dakota Access would devastate the oil industry and cost the state billions of dollars in tax revenue. (Associated Press)
• An Iowa environmental group says the effort to permanently shut down Dakota Access is far from over. (Radio Iowa)

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CLEAN ENERGY: Michigan’s largest municipal utility announces a plan to have 50% clean energy resources by 2030 and be carbon neutral by 2040. (WKAR)

WIND: Local officials in central Illinois narrowly approve plans for a 66-turbine wind project that will be the first in the county. (Bloomington Pantagraph)

TRANSMISSION:
• Illinois regulators are expected to approve a deal today settling a dispute between ComEd and NextEra over the acquisition of transmission lines. (Crain’s Chicago Business)
• Grid operator MISO predicts a major shift to renewable energy across its system by 2040, according to updated transmission planning scenarios. (RTO Insider, subscription)

CLIMATE:
• Presidential candidate Joe Biden releases a $2 trillion plan to make clean energy investments across a variety of sectors to strengthen infrastructure while addressing climate change. (New York Times)
• Biden’s clean energy plan comes as utilities across the country have already announced plans to decarbonize their power systems. (E&E News, subscription)

SOLAR:
• Indiana Michigan Power begins construction on a 20 MW solar project in northern Indiana, which will be the company’s largest. (ABC 57)
• Construction on a 2.25 MW solar project at a University of Wisconsin campus is expected to finish by the end of the summer. (Racine County Eye)

OIL & GAS: A major investor in a proposed Ohio ethane cracker plant pulls out of the project, though developers say it is still a “top priority.” (WOUB)

COAL: A federal appeals court orders the U.S. EPA to reopen a complaint filed by New York state over air pollution from upwind coal plants in nine states, including in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. (RTO Insider, subscription)

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NUCLEAR: The pandemic may further delay the restart of a southeastern Michigan nuclear plant in the midst of one of its longest outages in history. (Toledo Blade)

BIOGAS: A new report from environmental groups criticizes renewable natural gas, arguing that it’s too expensive, there’s not enough of it, and that it doesn’t address indoor air pollution concerns. (Grist)

Andy compiles the Midwest Energy News digest and was a journalism fellow for Midwest Energy News from 2014-2020. He is managing editor of MiBiz in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and was formerly a reporter and editor at City Pulse, Lansing’s alternative newsweekly.