CLEAN ENERGY: Several candidates running to serve on the Nebraska Public Power District board indicate they want to speed the utility’s transition from coal to clean energy. (Energy News Network)

UTILITIES: FirstEnergy executives offer a positive financial picture amid the pandemic as the company is shielded from revenue declines in at least three states where it operates. (Utility Dive)

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ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE:
• Fine particulate matter and nitrogen oxide emissions have dropped in the Detroit area over the past month, though previous pollution may have already put residents at higher risk from COVID-19. (MLive)
• Air quality tests around Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood show “no apparent health risk” after a former coal plant smokestack demolition blanketed the area with dust. (Chicago Sun-Times)

PIPELINES: U.S. government attorneys argue that a recent ruling halting a wetland permitting program would hamper thousands of construction projects. (Associated Press)

WIND: Illinois added $1 billion in wind energy investment while land lease payments doubled in 2019, according to a wind industry group report. (Kankakee Daily Journal)

EMISSIONS:
• An Indiana researcher says the U.S. EPA’s plan to revise the cost-benefit analysis for mercury and other air toxins is “basically trying to handcuff the agency from future rules.” (Indianapolis Star)
• Purdue University’s emissions-reduction plan lags behind stronger targets at Ball State University and Indiana University. (Purdue Exponent)

OIL & GAS: Two companies delay a decision on whether to build an ethane cracker plant in eastern Ohio, citing uncertainty from the pandemic. (Akron Beacon Journal)

COAL: Coal remains the second largest commodity at the Port of Duluth-Superior, but it is steadily declining and researchers say it could have ripple effects through the local economy. (MinnPost)

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SOLAR: A 20 MW solar project comes online in southwestern Kansas. (Solar Industry Magazine)

COMMENTARY: Clean energy advocates say a newly passed Chicago ordinance boosting requirements for electric vehicle charging at new developments promotes more “equitable access” to EVs. (Natural Resources Defense Council)

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.