Illinois has built out large amounts of renewables in the past decade to reach its mandate of 100% clean energy by 2050 . So far, though, it has lagged on building battery storage, which advocates say is especially necessary now as data center development drives up energy demand. Last fall, Illinois passed an…

CHICAGO — On a beautiful fall Saturday morning on the South Side of Chicago, the Life Center Church of God in Christ thrummed with excitement. The pews were packed with over a thousand people dressed in their best — including more than a hundred in black graduation caps and gowns. Before praying, Pastor Torrey L.…

Rules published Thursday essentially end federal grants that thousands of American farmers have long relied on to build revenue-generating solar systems on their land. The Trump administration’s changes to the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) are its latest attempt to block solar development even as the…

Illinois has spent the last few years training hundreds of people for clean energy jobs. Now, it’s upgrading its keystone program to better respond to new workforce realities. In 2023, Illinois rolled out about a dozen state-funded hubs that paid individuals to learn basic job-hunting skills and clean energy trades,…

The Obama Presidential Center , which opened on Chicago’s South Side in June, features a museum full of mementos to democracy and the famous family, native prairie landscaping, an indoor basketball court, and other amenities. It will also be powered entirely by clean energy. Solar panels sit on the roof and on a…

Stephen Mays was left without power for 12 days after violent storms and tornadoes struck northwest Indiana this month. Lori Latham for 13. Thousands of other residents of Gary, Indiana, where both Mays and Latham live and work, went without power for as long as two full weeks following the storms, in what has become…

Krzysztof Wasowicz, mayor of Justice, Illinois, has some concerns about solar: that it takes up farmland and enriches China. But he’s all-in on the community solar array that was recently deployed at a Public Storage facility in his village, a suburb of Chicago. The panels are located on otherwise unused roof space…

Illinois had big plans to turn a bunch of old coal plant sites into solar and battery farms. But the program has turned out to be kind of a bust. The state created its Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative five years ago, hoping it would speed clean energy deployment by making use of the grid infrastructure…

A year ago, most Wisconsin residents thought little about data centers, according to local leaders and journalists. But today, the computing facilities — and where they get their energy — are a key issue in the hotly contested Aug. 11 Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor. At a lively town hall last week in…

Any time, day or night, parents experiencing homelessness, domestic violence, or other emergencies can drop their young kids off at the Crisis Nursery in Urbana, Illinois, and know they’ll be safe and cared for. Funding is a constant challenge for the 45-year-old nonprofit organization. But it was able to create a…

Indiana — a state with a long history of coal mining and coal-fired power — has started undergoing a clean energy transition in recent years. It was among the top three states for solar installation last year, and more than a dozen coal plants have closed since 2010. But the state government’s eager embrace of data…

When the largest solar farm in Indiana came online in early 2025, nearby residents in rural Jasper County were not exactly excited. “It will mess up their fields,” said long-time resident Gena Carlson, referring to solar panels on farmers’ land. Carlson’s concerns, which were echoed by other locals, highlight the…

The Trump administration has spent the last year demanding that old, inefficient coal plants stay online long past their retirement dates. But one of those plants in Indiana hasn’t operated in months and won’t be able to until costly repairs are completed — undermining federal officials’ claims that their mandates…

Menards is a Midwest staple: The Wisconsin-based chain, known for its “Save BIG Money” slogan, is the nation’s third-largest home-improvement retail brand, behind Home Depot and Lowe’s. But in Illinois, it’s slowly becoming more than just a place for folks to pick up ceiling hooks and gardening gloves, as developers…

Forrest Bagley was eager to dive into Illinois’ community solar market. The solar company he owns with his father and brother had successfully developed arrays in Maine, Massachusetts, and New York, and generous state incentives for community solar plus ample open land made Illinois seem an ideal new frontier. Now,…