Today’s headlines: Virginia rises against Dominion/​NextEra merger, 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.

UTILITIES

• Staff at Virginia’s utility board recommend rejecting the $67 billion merger between Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy, while Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) demands the utilities freeze rates and triple monthly bill credits as a condition of the deal. (VPM, WAVY)
• Google announces it’ll pay Entergy Arkansas $600 million for grid infrastructure upgrades and a solar power purchase agreement to serve the tech giant’s data center expansion. (Arkansas Business)

FOSSIL FUELS

• The DOE will use $42 million in Defense Production Act funding to revive plans for the Constitution Pipeline from Pennsylvania to New York — which the White House claims New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) allowed to move forward in exchange for offshore wind permissions. (The Hill, news release)
• The USDA announces $8 billion in one-time relief payments for farmers struggling with high diesel prices. (news release)

GEOTHERMAL

• The Interior Department will hold a geothermal lease sale for more than 265,000 acres across Nevada today — including thousands of acres planned for solar development. (Reuters, Reuters)

NUCLEAR

• American Electric Power, Amazon, and X-energy will partner to explore development of a 960-MW advanced nuclear facility at the site of a former coal plant in Indiana. (Utility Dive)

POLITICS

• The Natural Resources Defense Council recommends changes to the Senate permitting bill, including language tweaks that would ensure protections from presidential retribution don’t benefit fossil fuel and data center projects more than clean energy. (NRDC)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• In the third quarter, 23% of new light-duty vehicles sold in the U.S. were hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or fully electric, with hybrid sales continuing to rise over the past year even as plug-in vehicle purchases sank after the expiration of the federal tax credit. (EIA)

METALS

• Mining startups are turning to microbes and other creative techniques to pull copper out of scrap heaps and supply the EV and other industries. (Bloomberg)