Today’s headlines: PJM pitches reforms, renewables conquer intermittency, 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

• A report from the International Renewable Energy Agency shows solar and wind power are entering ​“new territory” as energy storage systems allow them to conquer their fundamental weakness of intermittency. (New York Times)

GRID

• PJM Interconnection releases a whitepaper that envisions a total revamp of its design and mission as it faces increasing pressure from political leaders over rising prices and a power supply crunch. (E&E News)

UTILITIES

• Major utilities are quietly funding and running groups fighting cities’ efforts to create their own municipal utilities, which proponents say can deliver cheaper and cleaner power as mainstream utilities recommit to fossil fuels. (The Guardian)

DATA CENTERS

• A new analysis finds constructing and running data centers creates fewer permanent jobs per dollar invested than building out and operating the energy infrastructure needed to power them. (Latitude Media)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Ford says its affordable electric pickup truck is on track to go on sale next year, even after the company canceled production of its F-150 Lightning and wrote off $20 billion of EV investments late last year. (New York Times)

• While electric car sales are slowing in China after years of explosive growth, electric trucks are now experiencing a sales boom as gasoline and diesel prices soar. (Bloomberg)

• Rivian says it’s working on more variants of its smaller, more affordable R2 EVs. (Reuters)

NUCLEAR

• The Tennessee Valley Authority’s nuclear plants provided 41% of the utility’s power needs in the first half of fiscal year 2026, up from 31% during the same period last year. (Utility Dive)

FOSSIL FUELS

• The volume of gas generation in Texas’ interconnection queue surpasses wind power for the first time in a decade, largely thanks to an explosion of data center development. (Texas Tribune)