GRID: Recent heat waves actress Western states boost support for the integration of the region’s balkanized power grid, which could remake the region’s renewable energy landscape. (E&E News)

ALSO: Demand response to relieve grid stress gains favor in the Northwest following the recent heat-related power outages. (Canary Media)

POLITICS:
• More than half of U.S. House Democrats sign on to a letter pushing President Biden to ensure a clean energy standard, electric vehicle investments, and clean energy tax credits are in the infrastructure package he signs. (Politico)
• The House passed a $715 billion infrastructure bill last week that prioritizes electric vehicle and transit spending, setting a starting point for talks with the divided Senate. (New York Times)
• Most earmarks in the House’s homeland security spending bill are slated for climate change disaster mitigation, with about a third of them headed to Republican-held districts. (E&E News, subscription)

PIPELINES:
• Developers abruptly dropped plans on Friday to build the Byhalia Connection crude oil pipeline, which would have run through mostly Black neighborhoods in Memphis. (Commercial Appeal, MLK50)
• The Keystone XL developer files claims against the U.S. government seeking to recover more than $15 billion after the Biden administration canceled a key permit for the pipeline. (The Hill)

COAL: The Tennessee Valley Authority considers shutting down three of its five remaining coal-fired power plants and replacing them with natural gas. (Associated Press)

NATURAL GAS: The gas industry’s top trade group publicly supports energy efficiency while quietly fighting proposed federal efficiency standards for natural gas heating equipment. (Grist)

OIL:
• Environmentalists criticize Mexico’s state-owned oil company after an underwater fireball from a pipeline gas leak appears to boil the Gulf of Mexico. (E&E News, subscription; The Hill)
• The federal government backs up officials in South Portland, Maine, who want to block crude oil tanker loading in the city harbor. (Maine Public Radio)
• The Port of Corpus Christi’s plan to become a major petrochemical hub jars residents of a largely Black neighborhood boxed in by refineries, oil tanks, an interstate and now a bridge under construction. (Inside Climate News)
• After a developer purchases the former South Philadelphia Oil Refinery, the surrounding communities of color negotiate clean-up and community reinvestment following decades of environmental injustice. (Inside Climate News)
• A Montana-based nonprofit that caps abandoned oil and gas wells to stop methane emissions is expanding its efforts to other states. (Washington Post)

SOLAR:
• North Carolina solar installers cite homeowner associations, along with utility rules about connecting to the grid and selling back excess solar energy, as barriers to expanding rooftop solar. (Energy News Network)
• With more Catholics choosing cremation over burial, solar developers in Connecticut eye their unused cemetery space for possible panel installation. (Connecticut Public Radio)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• The U.S. Justice Department has launched an inquiry into Lordstown Motors in the latest challenge to the Ohio-based electric vehicle startup. (Wall Street Journal, subscription)
• General Motors invests in a lithium mine paired with a geothermal power facility near the Salton Sea in California, which is expected to be the nation’s largest lithium extraction project by 2024. (Reuters, Holtville Tribune)

Kathryn brings her extensive editorial background to the Energy News Network team, where she oversees the early-morning production of ENN’s five email digest newsletters as well as distribution of ENN’s original journalism with other media outlets. From documenting chronic illness’ effect on college students to following the inner workings of Congress, Kathryn has built a broad experience in her more than five years working at major publications including The Week Magazine. Kathryn holds a Bachelor of Science in magazine journalism and information management and technology from Syracuse University.