‘Green bank’ funding frozen again

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

• An appeals court temporarily halts a court order that mandated the release of U.S. EPA ​“green bank” funding, but also says the funds shouldn’t be returned to the EPA as the court considers the case. (The Hill)

SOLAR

• Solar power, currently the cheapest way of adding new power to the grid, could lose its cost advantage over natural gas thanks to new tariffs and uncertainty over federal incentives. (Heatmap)

OFFSHORE WIND

• The Trump administration’s order halting work on the Empire Wind project raises red flags for not just other permitted wind farms, but any industry that receives federal approvals for any of its operations, experts say. (NPR)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Liberty Energy, the oil company founded by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, reports falling profits and ​“storm clouds on the horizon” as President Trump’s threatened tariffs loom. (E&E News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• New York state lawmakers push the state to impose penalties of as much as $41.2 million on EV maker Tesla for not hiring as many employees as promised at the Buffalo facility it rents from the state for $1 per year. (Gothamist)

• Hyundai offers tours during the ceremonial grand opening of its $7.6 billion ​“metaplant” in Georgia, and revises its production projections upward to 500,000 vehicles annually. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

• Hyundai meanwhile reportedly plans to pause production of some of its EVs in South Korea amid slowing demand and U.S. tariffs. (Reuters)

• A program researching health effects and protective equipment to help firefighters when EVs catch fire is eliminated as part of Department of Health and Human Services cuts. (E&E News)

NUCLEAR

• The costs of building small modular reactors on the site of the shuttered Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan would be more expensive under the Trump administration’s tariffs, executives say. (Bloomberg)

OVERSIGHT

• The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will likely lose 55 of its 1,500 employees as they take deferred resignation offers. (E&E News)

BATTERIES

• A Virginia economic development official says construction of Microporous‘ $1.3 billion lithium-ion battery separator plant will be delayed due to uncertainty about whether the company will receive a $100 million federal grant. (Virginia Business)