ELECTRIC VEHICLES: While they applauded the selection of Chicago, Midwest advocates hoped to see Volkswagen settlement funds distributed to more cities in the region to support EV infrastructure. (Midwest Energy News)

CLIMATE:
• Climate change is becoming an increasingly contentious topic between Republicans and the public, and was most recently visible at a Michigan congressman’s town hall meeting. (E&E News)
• Trump administration advisers are scheduled to meet today on whether to recommend the U.S. withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. (Reuters)

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SOLAR:
• A new agreement is reached between an Ohio city and an AEP subsidiary to develop a solar project at the site of a former processing facility. (Newark Advocate)
• A northern Michigan landscaping company that manufactures materials onsite looks to provide one-third of its energy needs from solar. (Charlevoix Courier)

FRAC SAND: A public hearing is scheduled today on a Georgia company’s plan to fill more than 16 acres of wetlands to build a $65 million frac sand facility in Wisconsin. (River Valley Media Group)

COAL: A year after being retired, redevelopment plans for the site of a former Michigan coal plant are still uncertain. (MLive)

RELIABILITY: Michigan’s two major utilities are facing questions from state lawmakers and regulators over their handling of a historic power outage during a storm last month. (Detroit News)

NUCLEAR: A generating unit at Exelon’s Quad-Cities nuclear plant is back online after a planned refueling outage that started last month. (Quad-City Times)

BIOFUELS: A drop in production means ethanol is trading at a four-month high in Chicago. (Platts)

EPA: The Trump administration’s proposed cuts to the EPA could include the closure of the agency’s regional office in Chicago, which would weaken its ability enforce actions against coal-fired power plants in the region and layoff 1,000 workers. (ThinkProgress)

COMMENTARY:
• An Indiana journalism professor says supporters of a state bill to phase out net metering hammer home the point about solar being a subsidy without looking at it as an investment for the grid. (Kokomo Tribune)
• A North Carolina researcher is concerned about the impact the Trump administration’s anti-regulation positions will have on the agency that oversees nuclear power plants. (The Conversation)
• An energy attorney says a recent report from the American Society of Civil Engineers on the status of U.S. electric infrastructure is “alarmist and wrong.” (RTO Insider)

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.

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