Today’s headlines: TotalEnergies’ renewables buy, Westinghouse IPO, 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.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Elon Musk is reportedly considering spinning off Tesla’s Chinese arm as the company’s U.S. business prepares to potentially merge with SpaceX and cut off any Chinese ties. (Wall Street Journal)

CLEAN ENERGY

• TotalEnergies will buy Shell’s entire European onshore renewables business, which includes 500 MW of existing assets and 3.5 GW of planned wind, solar, and battery projects. (Axios)

• Data show that New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act helped push the state’s largest utility to supply 62% of the power on its grid in early July with solar, wind, and battery storage, displacing fossil fuel generation. (Yale Climate Connections)

BATTERIES

• Base Power closes a $1 billion funding round, bringing its valuation to $13 billion as the firm looks to deploy home batteries that can also be tapped to shore up the grid. (Wall Street Journal)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Washington state comes to an agreement with TransAlta in which the company will convert the Centralia coal plant to a natural gas-fired peaker plant by 2028, while also devoting between $7 million and $21 million to clean energy projects. (KHQ, news release)

• The Michigan Supreme Court halts a key construction permit for a planned Great Lakes tunnel for Line 5, saying state regulators failed to consider the project’s full environmental impacts. (Bridge)

NUCLEAR

• Top nuclear developer Westinghouse has reportedly filed for an IPO. (Axios)

OFFSHORE WIND

• The construction delays caused by the Trump administration’s two stop-work orders on Revolution Wind have cost Eversource some $164 million. (Boston Globe)

DATA CENTERS

• As data centers proliferate, PJM and other grid operators are increasingly petitioning the U.S. Department of Energy for authorization to push such large energy users to rely on backup generation rather than grid power during times of high demand. (NOTUS)

• U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) will introduce legislation today aimed at preventing data centers from shifting energy infrastructure costs onto other utility customers, saying it would give teeth to existing voluntary commitments. (E&E News)

GRID

• Texas Republican leaders call on state utility commissioners to reject pending applications to build high-voltage power lines across the state, which were proposed as part of a $33 billion statewide transmission buildout. (E&E News)