A best-of-both-worlds battery

This roundup of U.S. energy news headlines is part of our Canary Media Daily newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

MINERALS

• President Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sign an agreement to jointly invest billions of dollars in critical minerals projects, as Australia remains one of the few countries other than China that processes rare earths. (CNBC)

POLITICS

• The Interior Department is moving to eliminate more than 2,000 jobs, including staffers in state offices that manage fossil fuel, geothermal, and mining licensing. (Axios)

• The Energy Department names a new undersecretary amid reports that Secretary Chris Wright has fallen out of favor with the White House. (E&E News)

• Interior Secretary Doug Burgum says the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will end the offshore wind industry, claiming it ​“makes no sense.” (E&E News)

UTILITIES

• In a rare move, the Idaho Power Company’s Oregon arm files to cut electricity rates after the closure of a coal plant and demolition of another lowered its costs. (Latitude Media)

• Across the U.S. residential electricity retail prices jumped 27% between 2019 and 2024, while industrial and commercial prices rose 18% over the same time, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. (Utility Dive)

STORAGE

• BloombergNEF’s latest Energy Storage Market Outlook anticipates the world will add 92 GW of energy storage capacity in 2025, a decline from its prediction last year, though growth is still up 24% from the year before. (Edie)

NUCLEAR

• A load of fuel arrives at Michigan’s Palisades nuclear plant as it prepares to restart. (news release)

GRID

• Xcel Energy is taking different approaches to its distributed grid resource programs across states, installing batteries at local businesses in Minnesota while taking on a more complicated, legislatively-mandated model in Colorado. (Latitude Media)

ADVOCACY

• Former Breakthrough Energy policy and advocacy staff launch the Clean Economy Project, a new venture aimed at making clean energy ​“the most affordable, reliable, and fastest way to power America’s economy.” (Axios)