GRID: Alliant Energy is “picking up the pace” on burying Iowa power lines to improve reliability and reduce customer costs. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

ALSO:
• North Dakota utilities push back on state regulators’ legislative proposal to assign more value to “baseload” power plants like coal, saying it could increase costs for consumers. (Bismarck Tribune)
• MISO begins work on a transmission roadmap that’s meant to help facilitate more renewable energy projects. (Michigan Radio)

COAL:
• Indiana regulators reject clean energy groups’ effort to have Duke Energy operate its coal plants less often to reduce emissions and save ratepayers money. (Utility Dive)
• The CEO of St. Louis-based Peabody Energy plans to step down this year after leading the company through a bankruptcy restructuring. (Bloomberg)

SOLAR: Utility NIPSCO forms a joint venture with Invenergy on a planned 250 MW solar project in southwestern Indiana. (Times of Northwest Indiana)

OHIO: Former House Speaker Larry Householder says he won’t resign as state representative as he faces federal racketeering charges involving the state’s power plant bailout law. (WOSU)

EMISSIONS: A commission issues 50 recommendations on how the University of Michigan can achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades. (MLive)

PIPELINES: Kansas lawmakers consider legislation that would create stricter penalties for trespassing or damaging infrastructure and is aimed at pipeline protesters. (Topeka Capital-Journal)

WIND: Federal researchers study multiple scenarios for building out U.S. wind energy capacity showing potential constraints from local development restrictions. (Inside Climate News)

UTILITIES:
• Minnesota legislation would direct $100 million to help low-income utility customers pay bills after spikes in natural gas prices while creating a loan fund for municipal utilities. (MinnPost)
• Wisconsin regulators vote to end the state’s moratorium on utility shutoffs on April 15. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

CARBON CAPTURE: Companies announce plans to build an industrial-scale pipeline system across five Midwest states to move liquefied carbon dioxide to a centralized sequestration facility. (E&E News, subscription)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• A shareholder lawsuit claims Ohio EV startup Lordstown Motors defrauded investors by making claims about pre-orders and production progress. (Associated Press)
• Two Michigan U.S. House members co-sponsor legislation to spend $500 billion over the next decade to electrify public transit. (Detroit News)
• U.S. automakers are increasingly partnering with battery companies to develop electric vehicle batteries that cost less and provide longer range. (Inside Climate News)
• A high school senior in Missouri leads an effort to install two charging stations at his school to increase awareness about electric vehicles. (Joplin Globe)
• Retailer Meijer launches a new partnership to install electric vehicle charging stations at stores across the Midwest. (dBusiness)

OIL & GAS:
• The Rover natural gas pipeline developer faces a potential $20.2 million fine for allegedly misleading federal regulators about the destruction of an Ohio farmhouse during the project’s construction. (S&P Global)
• North Dakota officials are still trying to recoup royalty payments from oil and gas companies that say some of the costs should be deducted. (KXNet)