Ironmaking’s clean future

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.

BUDGET BILL

• The U.S. Senate parliamentarian tells Republican lawmakers they can’t force the Postal Service to scrap thousands of EVs and charging equipment as part of their budget bill, and deals a second blow to GOP efforts to speed fossil fuel permitting. (Reuters, E&E News)

• Experts say cuts to hydrogen and carbon capture funding in Republicans’ budget bill could end up hurting the fossil fuel industry. (E&E News)

• Scientists warn that repealing Inflation Reduction Act incentives will intensify global warming. (New York Times)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Oil prices continue to fall even after the U.S. accuses Israel and Iran of quickly violating a ceasefire, allaying fears of major price spikes for the moment. (Reuters)

• Republican state attorneys general ask the Trump administration to support legislation that could shield fossil fuel companies from state climate lawsuits. (E&E News)

• Oil companies allege that critics are infringing on their free speech rights as they try to protect themselves from climate lawsuits. (New York Times)

• The costs for keeping a Michigan coal plant online under a Trump administration order should be contained to a smaller area of MISO’s footprint and not spread across a broader region, say regulators, advocates, and utilities outside Michigan. (Utility Dive)

NUCLEAR

• The Idaho National Laboratory asks the DOE to let it replace the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as the top safety regulator for advanced reactors. (E&E News)

• SMR startup Terrestrial Energy announces a deal with Amaresco to explore powering data centers and other industrial customers first with gas, and later with Terrestrial’s in-development molten salt reactors. (Latitude Media)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Ford says it’s committed to completing and operating a $3 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Michigan after an executive recently said the project was in jeopardy if Congress eliminates federal tax incentives. (Detroit News)

FINANCE

• Mergers and acquisitions in the energy sector nationwide hit a record $57 billion last year, nearly double pre-pandemic levels. (Latitude Media)

WIND

• A federal judge temporarily halts a lawsuit against Dominion Energy over its offshore wind farm near Virginia to give the groups involved in the case more time to consider how they want to proceed. (WHRO)

• Congressional Republicans’ proposed rollback of clean energy tax credits could undermine companies like wind turbine component maker GE Vernova, which opened a 600,000-square-foot facility in Florida earlier this year, as well as smaller companies that supply it. (Pensacola News Journal)

TRANSMISSION

• A coalition of nine northeastern states seeks ideas for transmission infrastructure projects that would improve grid resilience and reliability across the region and prepare the system for more renewable energy. (State House News Service)

STORAGE

• Battery storage developers find it challenging to navigate financing, permitting, and logistical obstacles to get projects up and running in New York, but state incentive programs can help ease the way. (Inside Climate News)

SOLAR

• Scientists study how floating solar panels can both benefit and disrupt aquatic life in man-made reservoirs. (Grist)