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By Canary Media
Canary Media Daily — a newsletter
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.
FEDERAL ACTION
The impact of Trump’s plan to slash nearly $8 billion in energy funding comes into clearer focus as companies ranging from an electric aircraft firm in Vermont to a heat-pump component manufacturer in New York suffer. (VTDigger, Syracuse.com)
The $5 billion Biden-era federal EV charging program, once under attack by the Trump administration, is now moving along following a June court order that ruled efforts to freeze the money were illegal. (Politico)
OFFSHORE WIND
The president of Shell says the Trump administration’s attacks on permitted offshore wind projects are “very damaging” to investment and set a bad precedent that could come back to bite oil and gas in the future. (Reuters)
A judge denies the Trump administration’s request to pause an ongoing lawsuit against the US Wind project off Maryland, saying its lawyers are unable to work on the case during the government shutdown. (WBOC)
Data from the first year of operation at New York’s South Fork Wind installation undermines U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s claim that, “You don’t get wind power” in the winter. (E&E News)
STORAGE
Opposition to grid storage installations is growing nationwide as communities enact moratoriums against the projects, which opponents say present an unacceptable fire risk. (Associated Press)
DATA CENTERS
Google announces plans to build a $4 billion data center in Arkansas, to be powered by Entergy Arkansas from its existing generation portfolio plus a new 600 MW solar farm and 350 MW battery storage system. (Wall Street Journal, news release)
A report by the independent market monitor for grid operator PJM Interconnection projects that data centers will add nearly 12 GW to expected power demand next summer, driven in part by Virginia’s “Data Center Alley.” (E&E News)
ELECTRICITY
Carbon emissions created by electricity generation in New England were up 1% from 2023 to 2024 but have dropped 20% since 2015 as wind and solar have effectively replaced most oil- and coal-based power. (ISO Newswire)
“Eventually coal will get pushed out of the market:” Experts say the Trump administration’s actions may boost coal in the short term, but no new major coal-fired power plant has opened since 2013, and utilities are phasing out the fuel. (Associated Press)
Solar output accounted for a record 39% of utility-scale generation on California’s grid for the first half of the year, and fossil fuel generation fell to a new low of 26%. (Reuters)
UTILITIES
Minnesota regulators unanimously approve the sale of energy company Allete to a BlackRock subsidiary, saying it’s in the public interest despite objections from consumer and environmental advocates with concerns about higher electricity rates and clean energy commitments. (MPR News)
The deal illustrates a larger trend of private firms investing in public utilities as the industry stands to benefit from surging electricity demand. (E&E News)
FOSSIL FUELS
Experts say weakened federal regulation and a lack of funding could lead to a repeat of the fire and explosion that broke out at Chevron’s environmental violation-plagued El Segundo petroleum refinery in southern California. (Los Angeles Times)
The Trump administration begins selling federal parcels in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana containing about 600 million tons of coal despite the government shutdown and declining demand for the fuel. (Associated Press)
Emissions reduction