PJM’s data center debate

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.

SOLAR

• First Solar announces plans to invest $330 million building a South Carolina factory to manufacture solar modules, with commercial operations set to begin in late 2026. (WYFF, Electrek)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• While the Biden administration’s plan to quickly deploy a nationwide network of EV chargers has fallen short, the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program did successfully set a uniform standard for EV charging. (Politico)

• Some of the skilled South Korean workers who were swept up in the Trump administration’s immigration raid on Hyundai and LG Energy Solution’s electric vehicle and battery factory in Georgia have returned to work and helped restart machinery installation. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

DATA CENTERS

• Electricity costs in the mid-Atlantic and elsewhere are already being driven up by the prospect of a surge in data-center construction, but experts say it is hard to tell how many of the planned projects will actually end up being built. (Associated Press)

OFFSHORE WIND

• As the Trump administration’s campaign against offshore wind stifles development in the U.S., Nova Scotia is looking to New England for potential customers as it plans a major wind farm off Canada’s coast. (Maine Public)

CLEAN ENERGY

• One of the first large-scale systems in the U.S. that will tap thermal energy from an aquifer and rely on electric heat pumps and solar to heat buildings is under development at a former St. Paul, Minnesota, golf course. (Inside Climate News)

HYDROPOWER

• Climate change-induced drought is diminishing hydropower generation around the world, leaving power-plant owners to find ways to adapt to less rain. (New York Times)

CLIMATE

• Democratic Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is the sole representative of the U.S. government at global climate summit COP30, in part, he says, because the Trump administration threw up obstacles for officials wishing to attend. (E&E News)

• Pennsylvania’s withdrawal from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative shows that Democratic officials may continue to sideline climate action, even after winning several statewide races on the promise of reining in energy prices. (E&E News)

• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce asks the Supreme Court to pause new California laws requiring large companies to report direct and indirect carbon emissions and disclose the risks climate change poses to the firms. (Associated Press)

POLITICS

• Nearly a fifth of the U.S. EPA workforce, or 2,620 employees, have taken deferred resignation offers under the Trump administration. (E&E News)