Vote-a-rama keeps rolling

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.

BUDGET BILL

• Senate debate over the ​“Big, Beautiful Bill” and proposed amendments continues this morning, but an amendment from Republican Sens. Ernst, Grassley, and Murkowski to remove the excise tax on solar and wind development and slow a tax credit phaseout so far hasn’t come up — and may never. (E&E News)

• Utah Republican Sens. John Curtis and Mike Lee each filed amendments, with Curtis’ aiming to give the Treasury power to modify the excise tax, while Lee’s would more quickly terminate clean energy tax credits. Curtis’ has not been brought for a vote, Lee’s was rejected. (Deseret News, voting record)

• All other amendments pertaining to clean energy tax credits were rejected overnight, including one to preserve the incentives as written in the Inflation Reduction Act. (Senate voting record, record, record)

• The federal debate over how harshly to rein in wind and solar incentives mirrors fights that played out in Texas, Wisconsin, and other state legislatures in recent sessions. (E&E News)

POLITICS

• A former U.S. EPA staffer shares how his secretly recorded comment that the agency is ​“on the Titanic and we’re throwing gold bars off the edge” as it tried to spend allocated climate funding before President Biden left office fueled right-wing attacks and the Trump administration’s clawback. (New York Times)

OVERSIGHT

• The U.S. EPA says it will look to extend deadlines for coal-fired power plants to comply with water pollution rules. (The Hill)

• The Trump administration advances a rule change that would help energy projects more quickly advance through National Environmental Policy Act permitting. (E&E News)

• More than 270 EPA employees, along with other scientists, sign a letter to Administrator Lee Zeldin, saying current policies ​“undermine the EPA mission of protecting human health and the environment.” (The Guardian)

NUCLEAR

• Google says it will buy 200 MW of fusion power from Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ planned Virginia plant, though the power source still isn’t viable. (CNBC)

• Half of states have taken action in the past two years to promote nuclear power by creating task forces, lifting moratoriums, or including nuclear in long-term power plans, a shift after many rejected the power source for decades. (Stateline)

BATTERIES

• California lithium-sulfur battery startup Lyten buys an abandoned Northvolt manufacturing facility in Europe, after buying a Bay Area Northvolt factory last year. (Latitude Media)