Trump’s clean energy freeze begins to thaw — for some

This analysis and news roundup comes from the Canary Media Weekly newsletter. Sign up to get it every Friday.

It’s been a roller coaster of a month for recipients of federal climate and energy funding.

President Donald Trump’s January decision to freeze spending from the Inflation Reduction Act and 2021 infrastructure law was swiftly countered by court orders telling the administration to turn the spigot back on. But for weeks, state and local governments, businesses, and nonprofits remained unable to access money for weatherization programs, EV charging projects, and tons of other clean energy and climate initiatives.

Good news has started trickling in over the last week, with school districts reporting they were able to tap into millions of dollars for electric buses and state leaders from Colorado to New Hampshire saying they could once again access billions for energy-efficient building upgrades, installing solar in low-income communities, and other projects.

Still, billions of federal dollars remain locked up, affecting everything from rural clean energy projects to EV charging. Federal contractors and other workers dependent on the unfrozen grants fear they’ll be abruptly shut down again. And EPA administrator Lee Zeldin continues to try and wrest back control of $20 billion in ​“green bank” funds. If the freezes continue, more legal battles are likely — and legal analysts say they could eventually make their way to the Supreme Court.

Another threat to federal clean energy programs is looming as congressional Republicans put together the 2025 budget. Vehicle emissions regulations and electric vehicle subsidies are prime targets, E&E News reports, though Democrats and observers say cutting those programs will hardly help Republicans achieve the deep spending cuts they want to make.

Two more big things

What will data centers do to the grid?

After years of stability, electricity demand is on the rise again in the U.S. Data centers are driving much of that sudden change. In a four-part series, Canary Media’s Jeff St. John reported on how these power-hungry server hubs are challenging the grid and threatening to keep fossil fuel plants online longer — and spotlights the solutions that could instead help data centers strengthen the grid and further the clean energy transition. Meanwhile, our partners at Capital B reported on how the data center boom’s polluting impacts could fall especially hard on Black communities.

2025: In with solar, batteries — out with coal

The U.S. Energy Information Administration released two big predictions for 2025 this week. One report — which Canary Media’s Julian Spector broke down in a chart — shows how clean energy is on track to dominate new power generation joining the grid this year. The EIA anticipates 63 gigawatts of new power projects will come online, with more than half of it coming from solar and another 18.2 GW from battery storage. 

In another report, the EIA anticipated the U.S. will retire 8.1 GW of coal-fired electricity generation this year — more than double the 4 GW shuttered last year.

What to know this week

Unplugging EV chargers: The General Services Administration, which manages federal buildings, says it will shut down the roughly 8,000 electric vehicle chargers it operates across the country — a move that could cost the federal government as much as $1 billion in stranded assets. (The Verge, E&E News)

Europe’s ​‘Clean Industrial Deal’: The EU unveils a broad strategy for decarbonizing manufacturing, reducing reliance on gas, and making its energy supply cheaper and cleaner, but analysts say it lacks regulatory teeth. (Canary Media)

Batteries for all: Texas startup Base Power provides battery storage systems to homeowners at a minimal up-front cost, instead charging them a monthly membership fee and leveraging the systems as a grid resource. (Canary Media)

Goodbye, methane fee: The U.S. House and Senate voted this week to overturn a fee on methane emissions from oil and gas producers that was proposed under the Biden administration. (Reuters)

Cloudy future for direct EV sales: Democratic state lawmakers say they’re unlikely to support bills to let EV makers sell directly to consumers as Elon Musk clouds Tesla’s reputation. (Politico)

LNG doubts: A U.S. Energy Department report from December found new liquified natural gas export terminals on the Gulf Coast would lead to domestic fuel and electricity price spikes, raising doubts about Trump’s promise to lower costs by encouraging exports. (Grist)

Clean energy collaboration: Connecticut lawmakers consider permitting community choice aggregation, which lets towns and cities partner to negotiate cleaner and cheaper power from electricity suppliers and has already produced meaningful savings in other states. (Canary Media)