** Electric utilities serving the Northeast ask federal regulators to enact gas pipeline reliability requirements to ensure power plants have enough fuel to keep the lights on.
** The Pentagon announces plans to blacklist Chinese company CATL, the world’s largest EV battery maker that supplies Tesla and is partnering with Ford on a $3.5 billion Michigan battery plant.
** Delaware officials and the developer of an offshore wind project sign agreements to ensure the developer will provide the state with renewable energy credits and other community benefits worth more than $128 million.
** A group representing self-driving car companies called on the US government to do more to speed the deployment of autonomous vehicles and remove barriers to adoption.
** Residential electricity prices rose faster than inflation from 2019-2023 as utilities increased spending on grid infrastructure, a federal lab’s new report finds.
** Missouri lawmakers are set to consider legislation that would allow gas utilities to base customer rates on projected expenses rather than actual costs, which critics say could increase bills.
** Volkswagen aims to restart production of an electric vehicle at its Chattanooga, Tennessee, factory after all 200 employees who were previously furloughed return to work.
World
** China, which already boasts the world’s largest hydroelectric project, is preparing to up the ante. The Chinese government recently approved the construction of what would be the new world’s largest hydroelectric dam at the Yarlung Tsangpo River in the Tibet autonomous region. If constructed, the dam would generate up to three times more energy than the current heavyweight champion Three Gorges Dam, BBC reports.
** Iran has built a roaring global trade for its oil, relying on a shadow fleet of tankers that conceal their activities to skirt sanctions. Using leaked data, Reuters uncovered how one Iranian company evaded Western sanctions.
** The volume of global crude exports in 2024 declined 2%, the first fall since the COVID-19 pandemic, shipping data showed, due to weak demand growth and as refinery and pipeline changes reshuffled trade routes.
** A British company building electric car batteries that charge in five minutes has warned it could run out of cash by March unless it secures new funding. Nyobolt, which is a spin-off from the University of Cambridge, is on the hunt for cash after burning through a pot of £50m raised from investors two years ago.