States sue to restore endangerment finding, coal plant costs pile up, and more headlines

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.

EMISSIONS

• A coalition of 24 states and more than a dozen cities and counties sues the Trump administration, claiming it acted illegally by rescinding the endangerment finding, which underpins the EPA’s power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. (Associated Press)

• Democratic U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island announces an investigation into methane emissions from oil and gas facilities in the Permian Basin after satellite data revealed actual emissions were four times higher than EPA estimates. (Inside Climate News)

COAL

• The administration’s orders to keep six coal plants in five states online under emergency orders have cost utility customers more than $230 million, according to a Sierra Club analysis. (Utility Dive)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Uber announces a $1.25 billion investment in Rivian to buy at least 10,000 autonomous versions of the company’s R2 EV. (CNBC)

IRAN

• U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the White House may loosen sanctions on Iranian oil already on tankers in the ocean to combat rising prices. (Politico)

• White House officials say they won’t ban oil exports in an attempt to lower domestic prices. (Politico)

SOLAR

• Lego announces it will install a 26-MW solar array on its planned factory in Virginia. (WRIC, Electrek)

• Tesla is reportedly looking to buy $2.9 billion worth of Chinese solar panels and cells. (Reuters)

NUCLEAR

• President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announce GE Vernova and Hitachi will build as much as $40 billion worth of advanced nuclear reactors in Tennessee and Alabama. (Bloomberg)

• A bipartisan group of Minnesota lawmakers pushes the state to lift its 32-year-old ban on new nuclear reactors to help the state meet its 2040 zero-carbon energy portfolio deadline. (Minnesota Reformer)

GRID

• Utilities should prioritize distributed energy resources like home batteries and smart thermostats to avoid the need to build more grid infrastructure and keep rates low, a new Brattle Group report finds. (Latitude Media)

• Google will integrate 1 GW of demand response into its utility contracts in the South and Midwest to help balance its data centers’ power usage. (E&E News)