Today’s headlines: NextEra’s climate backtrack, a geothermal lease record, 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.

CLEAN ENERGY

• An analysis reveals as much as $600 billion in congressionally approved spending for climate and clean energy has escaped Trump administration rollbacks, the vast majority of which came from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law. (E&E News)

UTILITIES

• NextEra Energy has slashed its clean energy commitments and tweaked language to downplay renewables across its public communications since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. (Inside Climate News)

• Ohio consumer advocates raise concerns over AES’ potential sale to private equity firm BlackRock, which invests in data center companies and could have interests on several sides of the electricity business. (Cleveland.com)

GEOTHERMAL

• A recent geothermal lease sale in New Mexico netted $16.5 million, marking the second-highest-grossing federal sale in history, with the highest bidder paying a record $701 per acre. (Utility Dive)

OFFSHORE WIND

• U.S. offshore wind deployment projections have sunk 85% since Trump was reelected and launched a wave of attacks on the industry. (Inside Climate News)

HYDROPOWER

• Climate change–exacerbated drought and overconsumption push the Colorado River and Lake Powell’s water levels to an all-time low, threatening hydropower production at Glen Canyon Dam. (Los Angeles Times, Land Desk)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• EV sales are on the rise in South America as Chinese company BYD brings cheaper models to countries largely neglected by American and European carmakers. (Inside Climate News)

BATTERIES

• While sinking prices have made grid batteries more appealing, interconnection delays are still stalling their deployment. (Bloomberg)

COAL

• The DOE extends its emergency order keeping Michigan’s J.H. Campbell coal plant from shutting down for another 90 days. (news release)

DATA CENTERS

• Georgia Power delays the start date of its 25-year contract to power an OpenAI data center after state regulators say they plan to reject the current agreement. (E&E News)