Clean energy poison pill

This roundup of U.S. energy news headlines is part of our Canary Media Daily newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

FEDERAL FUNDING

• The Department of Energy announces plans to audit more than $15 billion in Biden-era grants with a focus on awards to upgrade the power grid and manufacture clean energy technology. (E&E News, Bloomberg)

• A researcher loses federal funding for a project seeking to understand public attitudes toward energy storage in Moss Landing, home of the massive grid battery that caught on fire in January. (Inside Climate News)

AFFORDABILITY

• The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects retail electricity prices to surge this year and rise faster than inflation through 2026, a trend that could be exacerbated by the Trump administration’s push to block clean energy and promote coal plants. (E&E News)

SOLAR

• The House Republican budget proposal introduced this week aims to phase out the longstanding federal rooftop solar tax credit at the end of this year, potentially putting home solar out of reach for millions as utility-bills rise. (Grist)

STATE POLICY

• Ohio’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signs a bill that ends subsidies for two unprofitable coal plants that were included in a broader power plant bailout law at the center of a major bribery scandal. (Ideastream)

• North Carolina lawmakers file bills to remove a 2030 carbon emissions reduction goal, phase out solar property tax exemptions, and redefine ​“clean energy” to include nuclear and hydroelectric. (Carolina Public Press)

• Dominion Energy proposes cutting the value of credits paid to people with rooftop solar panels in Virginia by more than one-third, likely setting up a battle with solar advocates before the state’s regulatory board. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposes extending the state’s carbon cap-and-trade program through 2045 and allocating $1 billion of its funds annually to the state’s high-speed rail project. (Sacramento Bee)

OFFSHORE WIND

• Anti-wind groups turn their attention to the Revolution Wind project off Rhode Island and the Sunrise Wind development off New York, asking the EPA to rescind key permits and saying the original applications contained violations of environmental law. (Heatmap)

GRID

• Speculative interconnection requests for large data centers that may never get built are creating fundamental challenges for utilities, grid operators, and regulators, and experts say officials should keep demand expectations in check. (Utility Dive)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Though natural gas is abundant in the U.S., turbine manufacturing constraints could limit the growth of new gas-fired power plants as 90% of current production capacity is already in use today. (Wood Mackenzie)

• The federal lawsuits against New York and Vermont’s efforts to make fossil fuel companies pay for climate damages are just one part of a campaign to prevent states from mounting legal challenges against oil and gas companies. (New York Times)

• Documents show that insurer Chubb is no longer covering the contentious Calcasieu Pass liquified natural gas export terminal in Louisiana after it withdrew for business reasons, perhaps because of new standards for methane emissions. (Inside Climate News)

NUCLEAR

• Anti-nuclear groups want a more stringent review of plans to reopen a Michigan nuclear plant after federal regulators found that the project would have no significant harm to the environment. (Michigan Advance)

CARBON REMOVAL

• Swiss carbon-removal firm Climeworks appears poised to lay off at least 10% of its workforce as U.S. support for the nascent technology wanes and reports emerge that its tech is less effective than advertised. (SWI)