TRANSMISSION: The developers of a highly contested transmission line through southwestern Wisconsin seek a new permit after discovering a former regulator who approved the project exchanged encrypted text messages with company employees involved in the project. (Wisconsin State Journal)

ALSO: Invenergy has purchased nearly half of the land it needs in northern Missouri to build the Grain Belt Express transmission project, which is expected to start construction in 2023. (St. Louis Public Radio)

SOLAR:
• Critics say a recently announced low-income solar program from DTE Energy stretches the definition of “community solar” and denies customers financial benefits of owning solar while benefiting the utility. (Energy News Network)
• A Detroit-area nonprofit begins installing solar-powered street lights a decade after DTE Energy repossessed more than a thousand of the area’s light poles. (E&E News, subscription)
• A developer is scaling back plans for a proposed 3,000-acre, 350 MW solar project in North Dakota. (Inforum)
• A public hearing is scheduled for next month on a proposed 300 MW solar project in northwestern Ohio. (Farm and Dairy)

BIOMASS: The potential benefits and public health risks of biomass — a major source of renewable energy in Wisconsin — is often overlooked in policy debates that center on wind and solar. (Energy News Network)

PIPELINES:
• As Enbridge continues to defy state orders to shut down Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac, critics say the company is attempting to curry favor with local residents and public officials to influence debates about the pipeline’s fate. (Bridge Michigan)
• Two Enbridge Line 3 pipeline workers were arrested in a northern Minnesota sex trafficking sting. (Star Tribune)
• A Minnesota sheriff’s office blocks access to a Line 3 protest encampment on tribally owned land. (The Intercept)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Clean energy advocates say Missouri is “moving in a direction as good as any state” to prepare for the electric vehicle transition. (Columbia Missourian)
• Starting this week, South Dakota will require electric vehicle drivers to pay an additional $50 fee to help fund road infrastructure projects. (Inforum)

BIOFUELS: Biofuel and corn industry groups urge the U.S. EPA to use restraint in granting fuel blending waivers to refiners after the U.S. Supreme Court last week upheld the controversial program. (Reuters)

OIL & GAS: North Dakota’s recently approved research and development program to expand the state’s oil resources is among recent state actions to preserve the industry and help it grow as the Biden administration tackles climate change. (E&E News, subscription)

CARBON CAPTURE: A public hearing is scheduled next month on a proposed 6.8-mile pipeline that would move carbon emissions from a synthetic fuels plant to six underground storage wells in North Dakota. (KFYR)

COMMENTARY: President Biden’s planned trip to Wisconsin this week is an opportunity for agriculture leaders to make their case against “ongoing threats” to renewable fuel policies, says an ethanol company executive. (Wisconsin State Farmer)