Records ahead for EV sales and corporate clean energy purchases, and more of the latest 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.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Global sales of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles are on track to hit a record 23 million this year, the International Energy Agency estimates, though another report shows U.S. EV sales haven’t rebounded since federal tax credits were rescinded. (IEA, Clean Investment Monitor)

UTILITIES

• Although NextEra Energy CEO John Ketchum has doubted offshore wind’s viability in the past, he now says his firm feels ​“very good” about Dominion Energy’s offshore wind project as the companies look to merge. (Reuters)

• Congressional Democrats turn their eyes to regulating utilities as they look to fight rising energy costs. (E&E News)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Energy company Enbridge proposes a major expansion to a pipeline that carries natural gas from New Jersey into Massachusetts, which will likely ignite more debate about the Northeast’s reliance on fossil fuels. (CommonWealth Beacon)

• South Carolina regulators approve a $5 billion, 2.2-GW gas-fired power plant to be jointly built by Dominion Energy and state-owned utility Santee Cooper at a former coal plant. (South Carolina Daily Gazette)

CLEAN ENERGY

• U.S. corporations will buy a record amount of clean energy this year as they look to meet rising demand and capitalize on expiring tax credits, according to the Corporate Energy Buyers Association. (report)

GRID

• Lower-than-expected demand from data centers is helping reduce the risk of power outages this summer, though reliability risks are increasing in other seasons, according to the North American grid watchdog. (E&E News)

• Grid operator ISO New England forecasts that small-scale, behind-the-meter energy storage systems will slightly reduce summer demand peaks by 2035. (Utility Dive)

• Grid operator PJM Interconnection gets federal permission to curtail power to data centers and other large loads in its 13-state region as hot weather and planned power plant outages threaten to strain the grid. (Utility Dive)

ELECTRIFICATION

• Berkeley, California, implements a rule aimed at leveraging real estate transactions to reduce carbon emissions by requiring home sellers and buyers to replace natural gas appliances with electric ones as a condition of sale. (Bloomberg)

COAL ASH

• A federal appeals court overturns a lower court’s decision and allows an environmental group’s lawsuit to proceed against Alabama Power’s plan to leave 21.7 million tons of coal ash sitting in an ecologically sensitive area. (Inside Climate News)

GEOTHERMAL

• In an effort to reduce emissions, Denver plans to convert a gas-fired district steam heating network to an ​“ambient loop” system that uses heat pumps to exchange thermal energy with the ground and wastewater sources. (NPR)