Good
morning! Julian
Spector has big news out of
Georgia: Qcells has officially
begun solar cell production at its
massive factory, plugging a hole
in America’s solar supply chain.
When the factory is fully
operational in a few months, it’ll
double the country’s current cell
manufacturing capacity.
Speaking
of doubling manufacturing
capacity, that’s what a smelter
proposed for Oklahoma would do for
the U.S. aluminum industry. But
the state’s attorney general,
Gentner Drummond, has sued to
block construction, dragging the
energy-hungry smelter into
Oklahoma’s governor’s race as
Drummond looks to take over the
executive branch, Maria
Gallucci reports.
And a
major grid-tech company thinks
it’s found a solution to the
U.S.’s underbuilt grid that
doesn’t involve building new lines
and transformers. Jeff St.
John takes a look at
the proposal, which is now seeking
federal funding.
|
CLEAN
ENERGY
-
Solar
power supplied 12.8% of the
U.S.’s power throughout May,
exceeding coal generation’s
share of the energy mix for
the first time across a whole
month. (Associated
Press)
-
Experts
say a court ruling knocking
down IRS guidance limiting the
use of wind and solar tax
credits will have scant
benefits for renewables
developers, with those
incentives slated to expire in
just a few weeks. (E&E
News)
BATTERIES
- General
Motors announces an investment
in sodium-ion battery startup
Peak Energy, becoming the latest
automaker to move into battery
storage as the U.S. EV market
stalls. (Axios)
- EDP
Renewables brings a 200-MW
battery energy storage system
online for Arizona utility Salt
River Project. (news
release)
INDUSTRY
- U.S.
Steel pledges up to $2.5 billion
in upgrades to its facilities
outside Pittsburgh, including
implementation of new technology
to reduce emissions. (Pittsburgh’s
Public Source)
DATA
CENTERS
- Texas’
grid operator reports that more
than 480 proposed data centers
have requested to connect to the
grid by 2032, representing more
than 418 GW, which is nearly
five times the system’s all-time
power demand record. (Houston
Chronicle)
- Mississippi
residents file a class-action
lawsuit against Elon Musk’s xAI
and a subsidiary over
“near-constant noise,
vibrations, and other
nuisance-level harms” from the
mobile gas turbines the
companies use to power data
centers in Memphis, Tennessee. (Mississippi
Today)
- Seattle
City Council votes to enact a
one-year citywide moratorium on
data center development. (Seattle
Times)
- Democratic
governors are walking a
“political tightrope” as they
decide whether to embrace the
economic promise of data centers
or oppose the facilities’
potential impact on water
quality and energy prices. (E&E
News)
GRID
- Annual
U.S. power consumption set a
record in 2025 for the second
year in a row and is on pace to
rise even further in 2026 and
2027, according to new federal
data. (Reuters,
Energy
Information Administration)
- A
federal judge blocks the U.S.
Forest Service from using
President Donald Trump’s energy
emergency order to fast-track
the environmental and cultural
review of a proposed 226-mile
transmission line through the
Nebraska Sandhills. (Courthouse
News Service)
NUCLEAR
- The
DOE releases a road map aimed at
speeding commercialization of
fusion power, though that
reality is still a long way off.
(news
release)
COAL
- Sources
say the Trump administration
spiked a multiagency criminal
investigation into whether coal
companies owned by Republican
U.S. Sen. Jim Justice of West
Virginia violated the Clean
Water Act. (ProPublica)
|
Rural
America & The Clean Energy
Transition at Climate Week NYC
|
Showcasing
clean energy leaders doing work
in rural America
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Anchored
by Canary
Media's flagship reporting
series on rural America,
this event will put a spotlight
on the communities that too
rarely make the headlines.
The day
will feature main stage
conversations with Canary
journalists, expert panelists,
and partners, alongside breakout
sessions and workshops diving
deeper into the topics shaping
clean energy's next chapter.
Space is
limited. Please join the
waitlist and we'll notify you if
a spot opens up.
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Media is an
independent, nonprofit newsroom
covering the transition to clean
energy and solutions to the
climate crisis. Donate
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