Hydropower’s breaking point

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.

POLITICS

• The government shuts down after the U.S. Senate fails to pass Republican- and Democratic-backed funding bills, halting many energy and environmental programs and federal permitting. (E&E News)

• Oil and gas industry officials worry that an extended federal government shutdown could slow permitting for drilling on public lands. (E&E News)

MINING

• The U.S. Energy Department says it’ll take 5% stakes in both Lithium Americas and the firm’s Thacker Pass project as the mine shapes up to become a key domestic source of lithium. (CNBC)

OFFSHORE WIND

• The Trump administration seeks to rescind federal approval for the Atlantic Shores offshore wind project near New Jersey, though developers had already put the project on hold. (National Fisherman)

• A judge is expected to rule within the month on whether the federal government will be allowed to reconsider the Biden administration’s approval of the planned 114-turbine US Wind project off Maryland. (Baltimore Sun)

SOLAR

• Community solar installations slowed 36% in the first half of 2025 from the same period last year, and the end of federal incentives suggests deployment will continue to fall. (Wood Mackenzie)

EMISSIONS

• The U.S. EPA announces a plan to relax a Biden-era rule that requires companies to reduce their use of planet-warming hydrofluorocarbons in cooling equipment. (New York Times)

• An Energy Innovation analysis finds Americans will end up paying more to fill up on gasoline if the Trump administration rolls back tailpipe emissions rules that incentivize automakers to make more efficient vehicles. (The Verge)

FOSSIL FUELS

• New England’s last coal-burning power plant, the Merrimack station in New Hampshire, shuts down after 65 years in operation. (Concord Monitor)

GRID

• Virginia leads the U.S. in data center development, but although state lawmakers filed 33 bills last session to address the sector and its demand for power, only four made it into law. (Inside Climate News)

• Supporters of MISO’s $22 billion proposal to build transmission projects across its service territory say the plan is needed to meet forecasted demand growth from data centers. (E&E News)

• Pacific Gas & Electric plans to spend $73 billion by 2030 for transmission upgrades aimed at meeting growing data center-driven electricity demand. (Reuters)

RECYCLING

• Aurubis Richmond, a nearly $800 million recycling facility in Augusta, Georgia, begins smelting common and rare minerals for reuse in electric vehicles, data centers, and energy infrastructure. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Georgia, Virginia, and 10 other states will change their rules to prohibit solo electric vehicle and hybrid drivers from driving in high-occupancy vehicle lanes during peak traffic hours beginning today. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Axios)

NEW FROM CANARY

• US hydropower is at a make-or-break moment — Alexander C. Kaufman

• Will the Southeast’s booming EV sector survive the end of tax credits? — Elizabeth Ouzts

• Interconnection bottleneck threatens community solar success in Illinois— Kari Lydersen

• XGS Energy says its advanced geothermal tech is ready to scale up — Maria Gallucci