Today’s headlines: Geothermal startup raises $134 million, electric school buses plug in for summer, and more

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.

GEOTHERMAL

• Advanced geothermal startup Quaise Energy raises $134 million in Series B financing to bankroll its first superhot, deep-drilling project. (Renewables Now)

GRID

• Several school districts across the U.S. will experiment with using electric school buses as grid resources while they’re not shuttling kids around this summer. (Reuters)

• Cuba faces an island-wide blackout as the U.S.-led blockade on energy imports to the country continues. (Associated Press)

FOSSIL FUELS

• The International Energy Agency expects global gas demand to fall by half a percent this year compared with 2025, largely thanks to sky-high prices caused by war in the Middle East. (International Energy Agency)

• FERC rejects a request from a proposed Ohio gas-fired power plant to be waived from certain PJM Interconnection requirements, saying the move would harm other projects in the grid operator’s fast-tracked queue. (Utility Dive)

• Residents of a rural Michigan community celebrate the cancellation of a 1.4-GW gas plant proposed by Consumers Energy, which neighbors of the project only discovered when deep borehole drilling began. (Michigan Advance)

CLEAN ENERGY

• The last two years have seen a wave of new energy industry groups focused on lowering utility costs, boosting economic growth, and promoting overall energy development. (Latitude Media)