OIL & GAS: The White House announces it will send $1.15 billion to states to clean up abandoned oil and gas wells, among other new regulations and efforts to curb methane emissions. (Washington Post) 

ALSO:
• The Biden administration moves to raise royalty rates for onshore oil and gas drilling. (Reuters)
• Massachusetts activists want utilities and regulators to reconsider the use of peaker plants to support grid reliability, arguing there are cleaner alternatives that don’t risk environmental and public health. (Energy News Network)
• A report finds Texas regulators routinely offer loopholes and incentives that let oil and gas companies avoid cleaning up abandoned wells. (Texas Public Radio)

OVERSIGHT: The EPA proposes restoring limits on mercury and other toxic pollution from fossil fuel power plants, reversing a Trump administration rule. (New York Times)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
• BlackRock, NextEra Energy, and a truck manufacturer partner to build and operate a $650 billion electric vehicle charging and hydrogen refueling network for trucks across the U.S. (Bloomberg)
• Ford officials expect to generate $45 billion by 2025 by selling 150,000 electric commercial transit vehicles annually and creating “charging depots” to help customers manage their fleets. (Detroit Free Press)

BATTERIES: Researchers develop a method of recycling lithium-ion batteries that preserves their most expensive component, the cathode, and allows it to perform even better in a recycled battery. (Scientific American)

CARBON CAPTURE: A union of 600 workers who are locked out from an ExxonMobil refinery in Texas leverages its labor struggle to undermine the company’s efforts to build a $100 billion carbon-capture hub in Houston. (Grist, E&E News) 

POLITICS: A group of 23 House Democrats call on President Biden to ensure his Build Back Better bill retains climate provisions as it’s revised. (The Hill)

CLIMATE: The annual cost of flooding in the U.S. will likely jump 26% in the next 30 years as climate change worsens, with low-income communities shouldering a disproportionate amount of the losses, research finds. (Washington Post)

UTILITIES: New technology and the growth of customer-owned generation will reshape the role of utilities, utility and power system experts predict. (Utility Dive)

COAL:
• Biden administration officials say a federal coal community revitalization program will fund Wyoming projects after the state was shut out of the grants last year. (WyoFile) 
• Congress members representing coal states lure energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining with promises of cheap power and lax regulations. (E&E News)

SOLAR: Stakeholders remain deeply divided over California regulators’ proposal to slash net metering payments for rooftop solar. (Canary Media)

COMMENTARY: A marine geophysicist suggests using offshore wind to power direct-air carbon capture technology that stores the pollutant in the ocean. (The Conversation)

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.