Today’s headlines: Trump’s data center pledge, a big battery approval, 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.

DATA CENTERS

• President Donald Trump will host tech leaders at the White House today to sign a toothless, vague pledge to protect residential utility customers from rising electricity prices stemming from data centers. (Inside Climate News)

• Washington state lawmakers table legislation that would have required data centers to pay additional utility charges, comply with renewable energy requirements, and shut off during peak grid demand, following tech firms’ opposition. (Washington State Standard)

GRID

• Midwest utilities press federal regulators and the Trump administration to suspend competitive bidding for certain power line projects, arguing a pause is needed to enable faster construction amid growing demand. (E&E News)

IRAN

• Trump says the U.S. Navy may begin guiding oil and gas tankers through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran said it would attack ships that travel through the critical shipping lane. (Politico)

• The U.S.’s leadership in natural gas production has so far shielded it from price spikes seen in Europe and Asia in the wake of the Iran strikes. (Axios)

STORAGE

• Massachusetts officials approve plans to build New England’s largest battery storage system on the former site of an oil tank farm near Boston. (WCVB)

• Battery storage deployment is lagging in the Eastern and Midwestern U.S., in part because of interconnection backlogs and because market rules don’t sufficiently value storage’s grid benefits. (Latitude Media)

TRANSPORTATION

• A federal judge rules that the Trump administration acted illegally when it attempted to block implementation of New York City’s congestion pricing toll. (New York Times)

CLEAN ENERGY

• California regulators order utilities to speed up procurement of 6 GW of new clean energy capacity before federal tax credits expire in 2030. (E&E News)

GEOTHERMAL

• New York City’s largest district geothermal project, serving a mixed-use development in Brooklyn, demonstrates the feasibility of using such systems even in a densely populated urban environment. (Facilities Dive)