Solar manufacturers face a steep hill

CLEAN ENERGY

• Solar and wind energy are ​“economically unstoppable,” even after the GOP’s new law phases out subsidies for clean energy, a report finds. (news release)
• Clean energy trade groups call on California to speed up permitting for solar, wind, and grid-storage so they can reach critical milestones before federal tax credits are phased out. (Reuters)
• Solar and wind projects on public land now need the personal sign-off of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to proceed. (Politico)

FOSSIL FUELS

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants to reject Colorado’s plan to close its six remaining coal-fired power plants by 2031, but the state’s air regulator said it is pressing forward. (CPR)
• The GOP megabill cut royalty rates for oil and gas companies operating on federal lands, resetting them to the same level as more than a century ago. (E&E News)

DATA CENTERS

• Amazon’s emissions rose 6% last year, marking its first increase in three years as the company rapidly builds out new data centers across the nation. (Bloomberg)
• Major institutional investors BlackRock and Blackstone look to purchase utilities amid projections of soaring power demand from AI datacenters, but consumer groups worry the change in ownership would harm consumers and grid reliability. (New York Times)
• Environmental justice groups appeal a Memphis, Tennessee-area health regulator’s decision to issue a Clean Air Act permit for Elon Musk’s xAI datacenter operation that has been running dozens of unpermitted polluting gas turbines for months. (Inside Climate News)

FEDERAL POLICY

• The Senate passes legislation that would cut $9 billion in federal spending if it passes the House and becomes law, including hundreds of millions in funding for international clean energy and climate programs. (E&E News)
• The GOP budget law failed to deal a definitive blow to the Inflation Reduction Act’s $27 billion green bank program, leaving courts to decide the fate of a program that has been the target of some of the Trump administration’s most aggressive clawback attempts. (E&E News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Uber commits to buying 20,000 all-electric robotaxis from Lucid over the next six years, and also makes a $300 million investment in the EV maker. (Axios)

• General Motors announces a partnership with Redwood Materials to supply old EV batteries for use in second-life energy storage applications. (Axios)

NUCLEAR

• Idaho National Laboratory and Microsoft announce a partnership to use AI to try and speed up the nuclear permitting and licensing process. (news release)