WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has canceled plans to award a $200 million grant to a U.S. battery manufacturer amid criticism from Republican lawmakers over the company’s alleged ties to China.

The U.S. is soliciting bids for up to 3 million barrels of sour crude oil to refill its depleted Strategic Petroleum Reserve in August.

WASHINGTON — A meeting with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to discuss lowering gas prices and boosting domestic oil supplies was constructive, but did not produce a major breakthrough, groups representing the oil industry and refiners said June 23.

Launching a $2.3 billion effort for states and tribes to revamp the national power grid is the latest White House effort to bolster electricity usage to modernize transportation infrastructure.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced the loan of 13.4 million barrels of crude oil from its strategic reserve as part of a renewed effort by the Biden administration to contain oil prices that have surged to their highest level since 2014.

Nikola Corp. announced the U.S. Department of Energy awarded it a grant of $2 million to advance research into autonomous refueling technologies for future hydrogen fueling stations.

Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm won Senate confirmation Feb. 25 to be President Joe Biden’s energy secretary. The vote was 64-35.

The Department of Energy has awarded a group of partners representing three universities, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the city of Chattanooga, Tenn., a grant to research traffic control system optimization with an aim to reduce emissions.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says he is nominating a deputy to Energy Secretary Rick Perry to replace him in the top job at the Energy Department.

The U.S. average retail price for diesel jumped 2.3 cents to $2.996 cents a gallon, the U.S. Department of Energy reported, while crude hovered near $62 a barrel amid political tensions in Iran and a decline in active U.S. oil wells.