The deal: The Interior Department will hand Duke Energy $129M to drop its lease for a planned wind project off North Carolina’s coast. Duke has agreed to invest that money into other forms of generation (which could include natural gas and nuclear).

The pattern: This marks the fourth such cancellation deal between the Trump administration and offshore wind developers. The total payout: Nearly $3B.

By the way: As the Trump administration sits on permit reviews, 92 GW of clean energy projects—and $121B in investments—now hang in the balance, Wood Mac found.

The issue: The country’s power system has just 26 GW of surplus generating capacity, a recent ICF report notes. And “in high-growth markets like ERCOT and PJM, there is no spare capacity to support new demand beyond next year,” the authors wrote. Within a few years, SERC and NYISO could end up in the same boat.

The fix: 445 GW of nameplate capacity is set to hit the grid through 2030…but less than half will meet peak load. While those new projects sit in the pipeline, ICF thinks demand flexibility will be key to easing the grid pressure.

The details: All eyes are on the country’s largest grid operator as it moves to clinch future generation (and demand response). For this auction, prices are capped at around $325/MW-day. For perspective: These limits sat at around $29/MW-day for the 2024/2025 auction. The latest auction ends on July 7, and PJM will post the results on July 14.

The signal: “While the price cap and floor may reduce volatility, they do not solve the underlying supply-demand imbalance,” wrote Adam Keech, PJM’s senior vice president of market services. “Addressing that challenge requires either bringing more resources onto the system or moderating the pace of demand growth.”

Speaking of: Today, PJM’s board is voting on two key proposals: 1) a sprint for new capacity to close the expected gap for 2028/2029 and 2) a “Connect and Manage” model for certain large loads. PJM expects to file these proposals with FERC next month.

Nope, according to the nonprofit research group American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). While organizations are upping their investments on these programs, ACEEE thinks it’s not enough. 

A new ACEEE report highlights a more than 14% “equity gap” in utility efficiency spending—low-income households make up nearly 28% of the population, but “efficiency programs reach those families at roughly half that rate.”

The tab: TransAlta wants a refund for the nearly $20M it has spent keeping its Centralia plant in Washington state open—but not generating power—for the past six months, per orders from Energy Sec. Chris Wright. The most recent arrived earlier this month.

Who pays? The company proposed splitting the bill between several organizations, including the Bonneville Power Administration and CAISO (who are not actually responsible here…but were mistakenly named in the initial DOE order). All these organizations have, unsurprisingly, pushed back.

The stakes: If FERC approves TransAlta’s request for reimbursements, the costs would be passed directly onto ratepayers, a representative at Environmental Defense Fund told Energy Central.

Constellation has applied to extend the licenses of the Nine Mile Point Unit 1 and R.E. Ginna reactors in New York. If the requests are greenlit by the NRC, they would add to around two dozen US reactors with operating licenses stretched to 80 years.