Today’s headlines: What to expect from the Dominion-NextEra merger

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

• BloombergNEF’s 2026 energy outlook finds countries’ rapid deployment of clean energy is helping them avoid volatile fossil fuel prices and shore up energy security, and anticipates that progress will continue through 2050. (report)

UTILITIES

• Consumer advocates say the merger of NextEra and Dominion Energy is likely to be bad news for consumers and the environment, and will instead benefit the companies’ plans to serve more data centers. (Inside Climate News)

• The proposed merger still has to collect an array of federal approvals, but may face its strongest scrutiny in Virginia, where Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger has promised to rein in rising power prices stemming from the data center buildout. (E&E News)

STORAGE

• EDF power solutions North America signs a five-year deal with Ford Energy to secure as much as 20 GWh of battery storage. (Detroit News, news release)

MIDDLE EAST ENERGY SHOCK

• The Trump administration will extend a waiver allowing the sale of Russian crude oil already on tankers. (Politico)

• The world only has a few weeks’ worth of oil stockpiles, the head of the International Energy Agency warns, as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed to shipping. (Reuters)

COAL

• The DOE orders Michigan’s J.H. Campbell coal plant to stay open another 90 days as the state and environmental advocates fight the Trump administration’s claims of an energy emergency. (Michigan Advance)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• A new analysis finds Chinese EV companies are focused on speeding up charging and expanding exports as they fight to keep sales growing. (Wood Mackenzie)