The shifting war on coal

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

• The U.S. EPA will delay enforcement of a requirement that oil and gas companies limit methane emissions, and may repeal the Biden-era measure altogether. (New York Times)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Trump administration orders to keep a large Michigan coal plant open beyond its retirement date at the end of May have now cost about $113 million. (The Guardian)

• For the third time, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright orders Pennsylvania’s fossil-fuel-burning Eddystone power plant to continue operations beyond its scheduled retirement. (RTO Insider)

• West Virginia struggles to replace more than $900 million in Biden-era federal grants scrapped by Trump that were meant to revitalize former coal communities. (The Guardian)

POLITICS

• During New Jersey’s gubernatorial race, Rupert Murdoch’s media companies produced coverage and op-eds that inaccurately blamed the state’s rising power prices on its clean-energy policies, a pair of new reports from watchdog organization Media Matters finds. (Inside Climate News)

• Democrats consider how to leverage rising anxiety over rising power costs and the booming data-center sector in the 2026 midterm elections after seeing electoral success with the issue in this year’s elections in Virginia and Georgia. (New York Times)

GRID

• PJM Interconnection’s market monitor urges federal officials to instruct the grid operator to only add large data centers that it can reliably serve, amid a larger debate over how to handle growing demand and escalating prices. (Utility Dive, Inside Climate News)

• A U.S. House committee will examine potential electric-grid vulnerabilities this week at a hearing that could generate rare bipartisan agreement. (E&E News)

CLEAN ENERGY

• New bipartisan legislation would undo Trump administration changes to the Rural Energy for America Program and require the USDA to favor small rural energy projects that cut climate emissions. (E&E News)

SOLAR

• Texas’ Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announces state lawmakers will investigate Ontario-based Canadian Solar and Austin-based T1 Energy — both of which have invested in Texas solar manufacturing and infrastructure — after Fox News alleges they have ties to corporations in China. (Houston Chronicle, Fox News)