Today’s headlines: Solar and storage dominate power plant additions, 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

• More than two-thirds of new power capacity that’s come online this year has come from solar and battery storage, with clean energy responsible for 90% of new energy sources. (Inside Climate News)

• Beverage firm Molson Coors begins construction on a solar array at its defunct coal mine in northeastern Colorado. (CBS News)

GRID

• A federal energy planning council says Northwestern states must add about 11 GW of new electricity generating capacity in the next five years to keep up with growing data center-driven demand. (OPB)

NUCLEAR

• The CEO of small nuclear startup X-energy says the DOE is planning to grant it $1 billion in federal funding for a Texas project, bringing total government investment in the project to $2.15 billion. (Reuters)

DATA CENTERS

• A data center trade group filled with major tech companies is running pro-data center ads across the U.S., and hiding their source inside front groups that appear to be locally run. (Inside Climate News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• A northeast Ohio factory jointly owned by GM and LG Energy Solution is scheduled to restart battery cell production next week after falling consumer demand for EVs caused a seven-month shutdown. (Reuters)

• In China, EVs displaced 1.5 million barrels of oil use each day during the second quarter, doubling earlier expectations. (E&E News)

BATTERIES

• Tesla rolls out a new residential backup power plan in Texas, in which it’ll offer customers a leased Powerwall battery and an electricity plan through Tesla Electric — a mode that’s similar to what startup Base Power is piloting. (Latitude Media)

GEOTHERMAL

• A federal geothermal lease sale held in June netted $16.5 million, marking the second-highest-grossing sale on record. (Utility Dive)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Mitsubishi says its large-scale gas turbine backlog has reached 35 GW, up from 23 GW last year, though the company is continuing to expand production. (Utility Dive)

• Xcel Energy blames unspecified supply chain delays for its failure to bring its Comanche 3 coal plant back online over a year after it was shuttered due to a mechanical failure. (CPR)

CARBON MARKETS

• Microsoft reduced its carbon credit purchases by 80% in the first half of 2026, compared to the same period last year. (Bloomberg)