COAL: A new owner could help North Dakota’s largest coal plant avoid a planned closure, though environmental groups and analysts say adding carbon capture and storage at the plant is an expensive distraction. (Inside Climate News) 

OHIO: A year after a scandal over Ohio’s power plant bailout law began to unfold, the controversy and legal action continue to dominate the state’s politics. (Associated Press)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• Indiana grants $5.5 million of Volkswagen settlement funds for utilities to begin building out electric vehicle charging stations. (Indianapolis Star)
• Missouri officials are set to begin installing electric vehicle charging stations at some state parks. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• Illinois officials seek to expand electric vehicle adoption as well as the state’s manufacturing capacity to build cars there. (ABC 7)

SOLAR:
• A recently approved 150 MW, $150 million solar project is expected to support as many as 400 construction jobs, according to the developer. (Toledo Blade)
• Ohio officials approve plans for a 577 MW solar project that’s expected to be operational by the end of 2023. (Columbus Dispatch)

PIPELINES:
• Line 3 pipeline opponents ask a judge to issue a restraining order against a Minnesota sheriff and a county land commissioner after they blocked access to a camp on tribal land. (KFGO)
• Biden administration domestic policy adviser Susan Rice divests nearly $2.7 million worth of shares in Enbridge. (ABC News)
• A 28-mile natural gas pipeline remains in a legal dispute after hundreds of eastern Ohio property owners sold rights-of-way for the project. (Erie Times-News)

WIND: Township officials in mid-Michigan discuss whether a local official’s involvement in leasing land for a wind project presents a conflict of interest. (Greenville Daily News)

CLEAN ENERGY: Missouri clean energy advocates are cautiously optimistic following the adoption of a new law making it easier for utilities to refinance coal plant debt. (Missouri Independent)

OIL & GAS: Officials say a Kansas oil and gas well that exploded during maintenance last week is now safe and repaired. (Wichita Eagle)

BIOFUELS: A Nebraska board for the first time approves out-of-state grants to help fuel retailers in California install ethanol pumps. (Lincoln Journal Star)

COMMENTARY:
• “Poor policy at the state level is acting as a major hurdle” to electric vehicle deployment in Kansas, consumer advocates say. (Kansas Reflector)
• Nuclear power should play a larger role in Iowa’s energy mix in addition to wind and solar, a columnist says. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)