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Trump cancels $700 million for batteries

By Sarah Shemkus

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This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Northeast Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning.

FEDERAL ACTION

  • The Trump administration cancels more than $700 million in funding for battery and manufacturing projects, including $316 million intended to help Massachusetts’ Ascend Elements build a facility to manufacture components from recycled EV batteries. (E&E News)

  • As more cuts to federal energy funding seem to loom, there is ​“chaos and confusion” among New England scientists, academics, and businesses who were counting on the money to support renewable energy research and other environmental projects. (Boston Globe)

OFFSHORE WIND

  • The mayor of Ocean City, Maryland, wonders who will be responsible for removing infrastructure already installed if courts decide the Trump administration can go ahead with plans to revoke permits for the US Wind project. (Baltimore Sun)

SOLAR

  • A Boston community center installs a solar array that will meet 70% of the facility’s electricity needs and share power with area residents and organizations, including three homeless shelters. (news release)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

  • New York awards $80 million to seven regional transit authorities to buy electric buses and build charging infrastructure. (Saratogian)

  • Connecticut will spend $5.4 million to build dozens of EV fast chargers along major state highways. (Connecticut Public)

  • A Massachusetts city deploys 35 new electric school buses with support from state and federal funding. (The Buzz)

  • Maryland pushes for greater adoption of electric school buses, but critics worry about high costs and the potential impact on the grid. (Baltimore Sun)

STORAGE

  • Some 600 residents of a Massachusetts town attend a hearing about the siting of a proposed battery energy storage system, with most opposing the plan. (Tewksbury Town Crier)

DATA CENTERS

  • Residents and officials of a Pennsylvania town resist plans to build a 2 million-square-foot data center on the site of a former steel mill, citing concerns about emissions and strain on the grid. (WHYY)

AFFORDABILITY

  • Maine consumers are likely to see an estimated 15% increase in electric supply rates next year, in addition to the possible, widely opposed distribution price hike now pending before regulators. (Maine Monitor)

HYDRO

  • The leader of a proposed hydroelectric power project in Pennsylvania is confident it will go ahead despite the loss of a partner and two investors, and widespread, bipartisan opposition to the plan. (ABC27)

TRANSMISSION

  • Connecticut regulators reject a proposed transmission after opponents spent two years trying to stop the project in the courts or convince the utility to adopt an alternate plan. (Hartford Courant)

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