Energy news in brief

** General Motors Co is investing in a U.S. lithium project that could become the country’s largest by 2024, making the automaker one of the first to develop its own source of a battery metal crucial for the electrification of cars and trucks.

** Three major European truck manufacturers – Daimler Trucks, AB Volvo and Traton – said on Monday they plan to form a joint venture (JV) to develop an electric battery-charging network for long-haul trucks and buses.

** The Enbridge tax settlement case that could have resulted in 13 Minnesota counties paying nearly $30 million has reached a conclusion, with the Minnesota Legislature agreeing to pay all of the $47 million owed to Enbridge after it was determined that the company’s pipeline properties had been overvalued in numerous years.

** A fire near Pemex’s Ku-Maloob-Zaap offshore platform complex on Mexico’s Gulf Coast has been controlled following a gas leak.

** Environmentalists criticized Mexico’s state-owned oil company Saturday after a gas leak at an underwater pipeline unleashed a subaquatic fireball that appeared to boil the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

** The nation’s largest public utility, the Tennessee Valley Authority,  is looking at shutting down three of its five remaining coal-fired power plants, saying they are old and no longer practical.

** California made an urgent request for additional power supplies to avoid blackouts this summer, an extraordinary step after suffering from rolling outages less than a year ago.

** Germany is on track to have 1 million electric cars on its roads in July, reaching the milestone six months later than planned, according to reports.

** Exxon Mobil Corp plans to begin reinstating the employer match to employee 401(K) plans on Oct. 1, one year after it was suspended, a company spokesman said on Friday.

** Iran reiterated on Sunday that it can boost oil production rapidly if U.S. sanctions are lifted.