COAL: Closing two coal plants in Sioux City by 2023 could save MidAmerican Energy customers $92 million, according to a Sierra Club analysis. (Iowa Public Radio)

SOLAR:
• Xcel Energy seeks to add roughly 500 MW of new large-scale solar generation near its Sherco power plant in Minnesota. (Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal)
• Wisconsin’s solar workforce and installations continue to grow as costs decline and utility customers seek electricity savings. (WXPR)
• A technology training center in southern Indiana is now fully powered by onsite solar. (Inside Indiana Business)

RENEWABLES:
• A large manufacturer signs a deal with Nebraska Public Power District that is likely the largest renewable energy purchase agreement in the state’s history. (Lincoln Journal Star)
• Creighton University in Nebraska says it will divest from fossil fuels over the next 10 years and instead pursue investments in renewable energy. (Omaha World-Herald)
• Renewable energy developers say Ohio has the resources and infrastructure to build out wind and solar projects, though political opposition has limited both sectors’ growth. (Cleveland.com)

OHIO: In the months since former House Speaker Larry Householder was arrested on corruption charges related to Ohio’s power plant subsidy law, state lawmakers have done nothing to curtail dark money’s influence in state politics. (Cincinnati Enquirer)

POLICY: The Union of Concerned Scientists calls on Midwestern states to pass “comprehensive clean energy policies” in 2021. (RTO Insider, subscription)

HYDROELECTRIC: Columbus, Ohio, officials approve $15.3 million in bond funding to refurbish a shuttered 5 MW hydroelectric dam that should be fully operational again by mid-2023. (Columbus Dispatch)

WIND:
• Local officials in Iowa deny Con Edison variances needed for a three-turbine wind project that would have been at odds with a county ordinance. (Telegraph Herald)
• Otter Tail Power Co. completes a 150 MW wind project in North Dakota. (Daily Energy Insider)

OIL & GAS: Conservation groups raise concerns about a U.S. Forest Service plan designating where oil wells can be built in the Little Missouri National Grassland in western North Dakota. (Bismarck Tribune)

GRID: Officials with grid operator MISO learn lessons from pandemic-related shifts in 2020 and prepare for more transmission to accommodate a larger renewable energy load. (RTO Insider, subscription)

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.