UTILITIES: The COVID-19 pandemic is causing a spike in energy insecurity among Indiana residents now struggling to pay utility bills. (Indianapolis Star)

ALSO: Minnesota Power receives a four-month extension from state regulators to file its long-term energy plan due to delays caused by the pandemic. (Duluth News Tribune)

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OHIO:
• An Ohio solar developer says FirstEnergy “captured the rulemakers and stacked the deck against clean energy and in favor of the status quo.” (E&E News, subscription)
• The state’s bribery scandal was years in the making and part of a broader trend as nuclear plant operators sought financial help amid competition with natural gas and renewables. (Associated Press)
• Ohio’s secretary of state calls for more transparency around contributions made to nonprofit “dark money” advocacy groups. (Associated Press)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Electric truck startup Lordstown Motors will become a publicly traded company in a deal that will boost its valuation to $1.6 billion and includes a $75 million investment from General Motors. (Detroit Free Press)

WIND:
• Some Iowa lawmakers seek to block a plan that would give state utility regulators more authority over private property rights for wind projects. (Radio Iowa)
• Wind energy is on track to be grid operator Southwest Power Pool’s largest fuel source this year. (RTO Insider, subscription)
• A central Kansas county considers wind regulations with sound and flicker limitations rather than setback distances from properties. (Hutchinson News)

EMISSIONS: Forty-one states cut their carbon emissions from 2005-2017 even as their economies grew, according to a World Resources Institute report. (Grist)

COAL: The U.S. EPA extends the public comment period on a plan to remove coal ash from a northwestern Indiana coal plant to Oct. 18. (Chicago Tribune)

PIPELINES: Berkshire Hathaway proposes a scaled back expansion of a natural gas pipeline through Minnesota. (S&P Global)

RENEWABLES: AEP seeks to offtake power from new wind and solar projects in grid operator PJM’s territory. (Renewables Now)

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NUCLEAR: A southeastern Michigan nuclear plant is poised to restart after the longest refueling and maintenance outage in the U.S. this year due to the pandemic. (S&P Global)

COMMENTARY:
• Local candidates in Michigan races raise concerns about a nonprofit political advocacy group funded by Consumers Energy making outsized spending in primary races, a watchdog group reports. (Energy and Policy Institute)
• A national business group calls on Indiana regulators to no longer allow Duke Energy to pass on the costs of operating uneconomic coal plants to consumers. (Advanced Energy Economy)

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.