The DOE’s loan office enters its ​‘energy dominance’ era

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

On Thursday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced the Loan Programs Office’s first deal under its new Energy Dominance Financing Program, closing a $1.6 billion loan guarantee for a subsidiary of utility giant American Electric Power to overhaul about 5,000 miles of power lines across the Midwest.

The Energy Dominance Financing Program is actually a rebranded reincarnation of the Biden-era Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment Program, which was created by the Inflation Reduction Act to support projects that ​“retool, repower, repurpose, or replace” existing energy infrastructure while reducing pollution. The GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act gave the program its new Trump-ified name while removing requirements that projects reduce emissions.

A DOE webpage says the Energy Dominance Financing Program ​“is a core pillar to the Administration’s strategy to win the global AI race” and will create ​“new eligibility for clean coal and oil and gas power-generated projects, securing critical mineral supply chains, and reinvigorating the nuclear industry.”

Under the Biden administration, the LPO issued more than $107 billion worth of loans and loan guarantees for clean-energy-focused projects, including EV factories, lithium mining, and solar-module manufacturing. Trump’s LPO has released some of that funding, including for the restart of a nuclear plant in Michigan and the expansion of an alternative-jet-fuel refinery in Montana. But the office has attacked other deals that more explicitly benefit renewables: In July, the office canceled a $4.9 billion loan guarantee for the Grain Belt Express, a transmission line meant to carry wind and solar power from the Great Plains to cities further east.

Notably, the American Electric Power loan guarantee closed this week was also initiated by the LPO under the Biden administration. Wright said Thursday that the LPO is still funding AEP’s project because it utilizes existing infrastructure and gets ​“a lot of bang for the buck,” while the Grain Belt Express is a more expensive, ground-up construction project.

The energy secretary also used the recent announcement to rail against the LPO’s clean-power focus under former President Joe Biden, saying that the new-and-Trump-approved LPO won’t be helping ​“decarbonize Uber Eats in San Francisco or subsidize the construction of e-bike trails in Portland” — not that the LPO ever financed those things anyway. But even if Wright didn’t mention it, the AEP loan will undoubtedly benefit renewables by making more room on the grid for clean power generation to come online.

Thursday’s announcement suggests financing under the LPO may pick back up again — if the rebranded version can deal with the many obstacles it’s now facing.

For starters, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act slashed the office’s backup fund to cover loans that aren’t repaid. Then there are the numerous internal struggles: The LPO has already seen three directors in its 10 months under Trump and has lost half of its staff to voluntary departures — and many more to layoffs. It’s all jeopardized companies’ trust in the agency and its ability to even handle existing loans, Latitude Media reports — not to mention whatever the Energy Dominance Financing Program has in store.

More big energy stories

A record for EV sales — but will it last?

It happened: U.S. EV sales hit an all-time quarterly record from July through September, with nearly 440,000 new electric cars sold, according to Cox Automotive. Several automakers benefited from the boom, with General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, and Volkswagen all reporting big year-over-year gains.

The record doesn’t come as a surprise, as buyers rushed to beat the Sept. 30 deadline for federal EV tax credits sent to an early grave by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. But what the future has in store for the U.S. EV market is still in question. Hyundai is offering an up-to-$7,500 incentive on its electric models through October and is cutting the price of some of its cars. Both GM and Tesla have rolled out lower-priced models in the past month, and some states and cities are increasing their EV incentives to keep purchases rolling.

Decarbonization is happening everywhere, big and small

Companies are making strides on the tech needed to decarbonize everything from your morning cup of coffee to factory floors.

Bellwether Coffee, for one, is leading the charge on cutting emissions from coffee roasting. Canary Media’s Jeff St. John toured the Berkeley, California, startup, which has crafted an electric alternative to gas-burning roasters. These electric roasters don’t need complex venting and afterburner equipment like their fossil-fueled counterparts, and they can plug into standard commercial-voltage outlets, allowing cafes to cut costs by roasting their own blends.

Canary’s Alison F. Takemura, meanwhile, visited AtmosZero’s 83,000-square-foot factory in Loveland, Colorado, where the startup is looking to revolutionize industrial heat. Companies making everything from Cheez Whiz to beer to notepaper typically rely on gas-burning boilers, and AtmosZero wants to clean up their processes. It’s scaling up production of its Boiler 2.0, a steam-making heat pump that’s the size of a shipping container and that can be hoisted and plopped into any factory that needs it.

Clean energy news to know this week

Gutting our clean-energy future: The Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, responsible for juicing research and development of hydrogen hubs, carbon capture, and other emerging clean technologies, is headed for collapse amid slashed grants, mass layoffs, and a $0 budget request for the next fiscal year. (Canary Media)

Fighting for solar access: A group of 22 states and Washington, D.C., sue the U.S. EPA over its cancellation of $7 billion in Solar for All funding, which was meant to help low-income households access solar power. (Utility Dive)

Clean-energy cuts backfire: Trump administration cuts to clean-energy funding are disproportionately hurting Republican-led states that significantly benefit from Solar for All grants and other power-bill-lowering programs. (New York Times)

What’s next for fossil fuels: McKinsey projects that while fossil fuels will remain a major piece of the global energy mix beyond 2050, demand for them will likely plateau between 2030 and 2035; meanwhile, renewables and battery storage will continue to gain ground. (McKinsey)

This just makes sense: A new Ohio law will fast-track energy projects on former coal mines and brownfields, but how much it will benefit clean energy depends on forthcoming state rules. (Canary Media)

Going with the flow: Arizona utility Salt River Project plans a 50-megawatt-hour long-duration iron-flow battery system at its research center as it looks to at least double power-generation capacity over the next decade. (Utility Dive)

Energy independence: Minnesota tribes build momentum for energy sovereignty as they build clean-power projects and establish tribal utility commissions. (Minnesota Reformer)