The crushing costs of keeping coal alive

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.

FEDERAL POLICY

• The Biden administration spent or obligated $61.7 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding before Trump took office, and the new GOP megabill rescinded $31.7 billion. (Heatmap)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Panasonic opens a $4 billion EV battery factory in Kansas amid widespread concern about the industry due to tariffs and the rollback of federal incentives. (KCUR)

• Workers at Ford Motor Co. and South Korea-based SK On’s EV battery manufacturing plant in Kentucky say the companies have launched an anti-union campaign that’s disrupting their attempt to schedule an election on whether to join the United Auto Workers. (Lexington Herald-Leader)

• China restricts the export of its battery-manufacturing technology as its affordable electric vehicles grow more and more popular worldwide. (New York Times)

UTILITIES

• Georgia regulators approve Georgia Power’s long-range plan, which keeps the utility’s coal-fired power plants running and includes a historic expansion of 6,000 MW to 8,500 MW in electric capacity, which is likely to come largely from gas. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

• Ameren proposes construction of an 800 MW gas-fired power plant and 400 MW battery storage facility in Missouri to replace a coal plant that closed last year after continuous emission violations. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, KBIA)

OFFSHORE WIND

• Three Republican Congressmen ask U.S. attorney general Pam Bondi to investigate whether offshore wind projects off Maryland, New Jersey, and New York pose national security risks. (WBFF)

NUCLEAR

• Constellation Energy will pursue a new nuclear project in upstate New York following Gov. Kathy Hochul’s call to build at least one new facility. (Bloomberg)

CLEAN ENERGY

• California lawmakers remove provisions from a proposed bill that would have slashed rooftop solar net metering compensation when customers sell their homes, drawing relief from advocates and homeowners. (NBC Palm Springs)

• Maine launches an effort to buy 1,600 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy from projects located on PFAS-contaminated farmland. (News Center Maine)

• Developers withdraw plans to build one of New England’s largest battery storage facilities in Connecticut after opposition from local residents and officials. (CT Mirror)

FOSSIL FUELS

• After years of consideration, Tennessee Valley Authority announces a 280-acre site in a rural Tennessee county is no longer its ​“preferred alternative” for construction of a 900 MW gas-fired power plant to partially replace a coal plant that’s being converted to gas. (WTVF, WZTV)

GRID

• Texas regulators discuss a report finding the rapid growth of data centers and other large loads represents the largest threat to the state power grid’s reliability, with the grid operator projecting up to 70.5 GW of new load by 2028. (Utility Dive)