Electrifying rebuilds

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.

GRID

• Grid operator PJM selects 51 projects — mostly natural gas plants and battery storage facilities — to jump to the head of its interconnection queue as part of an effort to get power online faster to meet growing demand. (E&E News)

• Maryland signs on to a now nine-state collaborative effort to improve transmission throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions in order to strengthen reliability and lower costs. (WJZ News)

FOSSIL FUELS

• A coalition of 24 red states challenges Vermont’s climate change superfund law in federal court, contending that the effort to make fossil fuel companies pay for climate damages caused by their products is an unconstitutional ​“shakedown of the companies who built America.” (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

• A 5.4 magnitude earthquake strikes a part of west Texas where experts say the oil and gas industry’s injection of wastewater is increasing pressure to a ​“critically stressed” level. (Houston Chronicle)

• The Trump administration says it will rewrite a Biden-era rule requiring the oil and gas industry to commit nearly $7 billion to help decommission offshore infrastructure. (Reuters)

• A new Department of Energy Loan Programs Office official says the office will use its lending authority to meet data-center demand, including by financing nuclear, geothermal — or coal. (Axios)

OFFSHORE WIND

• German electricity giant RWE says it’s pausing U.S. offshore wind developments, including the sole project in the Gulf of Mexico, due to the Trump administration’s attacks on the industry. (Workboat)

CLEAN ENERGY

• A Republican state representative in Indiana laments restrictions on renewable-energy development as the state sees electricity costs rise and 78% of its counties have a moratorium or ban on utility-scale clean-energy. (Indiana Capital Chronicle)

• Staten Island, New York residents stage a rally to protest a $300 million battery storage system planned for a mostly residential neighborhood, citing concerns about a potential fire releasing toxic pollutants into the air. (SILive)

• Ahead of the summer, a California energy official says the state’s grid is ​“stronger, smarter, and cleaner” than ever thanks to rapid renewable energy and storage deployment and strategic reserve planning. (news release)

CLIMATE

• The U.S. EPA announces a sweeping reorganization that scientists and advocates view as an attack on the agency’s core research office. (Associated Press)

• The American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological Society announce a plan to produce key climate research to replace the Sixth National Climate Assessment after Trump dismissed the official authors last week. (CNN)

MINING

• The Trump administration announces plans to fast-track another batch of 10 ​“critical mineral” production projects, including operations seeking copper, uranium, and palladium. (Reuters)

NUCLEAR

• Illinois lawmakers debate legislation to repeal the state’s moratorium on the construction of new nuclear reactors bigger than 300 MW in capacity. (WJOL)