ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A southwestern Illinois school district purchases its first round of electric buses using Volkswagen settlement funds with a tentative plan to replace half of its fleet with electric models in 15 years. (Energy News Network)

OIL & GAS: North Dakota officials launch a task force to help oil and gas drillers with a variety of incentives as the number of wells shrinks and production hits its lowest level in five years. (Associated Press)

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SOLAR: A developer will seek approval from state regulators in the coming months for a 150 MW solar project in eastern Wisconsin. (Sheboygan Press)

POLICY: Clean energy legislation is on hold in Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan as lawmakers focus their attention on the pandemic. (National Law Review)

GRID: Decreased power demand combined with weak natural gas prices has pushed down power costs across grid operator MISO’s territory. (S&P Global)

COAL:
• The coronavirus pandemic has so far not altered utility plans to retire coal plants, including facilities in Indiana and Michigan. (S&P Global)
• A western Michigan county receives federal grant funding for environmental assessments at the site of a coal plant scheduled to close this year. (MiBiz)

UTILITIES:
• Ohio utility AEP expects overall sales to decline 3.4% due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Columbus Business First)
• A municipal utility in southern Michigan could face $2.3 million in additional power costs in the coming year as a result of the most recent MISO capacity auction. (Coldwater Daily Reporter)

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BIOFUELS: How the ethanol industry recovers from the pandemic will significantly affect the future of major agribusiness The Andersons, which has stopped ethanol production at four facilities. (Toledo Blade)

COMMENTARY:
• A coalition of advocacy groups seek to hold Duke Energy “accountable for its policies” that affect its customers and, by extension, “impede the nation’s progress toward a clean energy future.” (Environmental Working Group)
• Indigenous activist Chase Iron Eyes said recent court rulings on the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines “justify the stand” he and others took at Standing Rock. (Daily Climate)