Trump nixes billions in federal clean energy, grid funding

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CLEAN ENERGY

• Analysts say the Trump administration’s politically motivated rescission of more than $1.3 billion in Biden-era federal funding for clean energy, grid reliability, and carbon capture projects in Colorado, New Mexico, and Oregon will lead to increased utility costs and hamper efforts to fight climate change. (Canary Media, Denver 7, KOB, OPB)

• Experts say the Trump administration’s anti-wind crusade threatens the energy transition by driving up electricity costs and diminishing grid reliability. (High Country News)

• San Diego Community Power launches a $55 million rebate and incentive program aimed at encouraging customers to install rooftop solar-plus-storage systems. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

HYDROGEN

• The Trump administration rescinds $2.2 billion in Biden-era federal funding for proposed hydrogen hubs in California and the Northwest as part of a move to defund clean energy projects in Democratic states. (Los Angeles Times)

LITHIUM

• The Trump administration takes an equity stake in Lithium Americas and its proposed Thacker Pass mine in Nevada as a condition of honoring a $2.3-billion Biden-era federal loan. (Associated Press, E&E News)

CLIMATE

• A Stanford University study finds California can meet its net-zero greenhouse gas emissions goal by 2045 if it deploys proven technologies at unprecedented speed while investing in emerging solutions. (Carbon Herald)

GRID

• Xcel Energy asks Colorado regulators to override two counties’ rejection of the utility’s proposed Power Pathway transmission project route. (Colorado Sun)

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoes legislation that would have required rules for how utilities weigh demand-reducing technologies’ value, saying it conflicts with existing regulations. (E&E News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Colorado increases incentives offered by its Vehicle Exchange Program designed to help low- and middle-income residents replace old gasoline cars with electric ones. (CPR)

• Xcel Energy launches an EV rebate program for its New Mexico customers. (KFDA)

• Colorado Mountain College adds EV and charger maintenance courses to its automotive technology program at several campuses. (Vail Daily)

STORAGE

• Vistra Corp. and the U.S. EPA begin the ​“unprecedented” cleanup at the firm’s fire-damaged battery energy storage system in Moss Landing, California. (news release)

• A southern California community college considers rejecting a $750,000 grant from Engie North America following local opposition to the developer’s proposed 250 MW battery energy storage system in San Juan Capistrano. (Orange County Register)

COAL

• Rocky Mountain Power moves forward with plans to convert its Naughton coal plant in Wyoming to run on natural gas despite the Trump administration’s efforts to prop up the coal industry. (Wyoming Public Media)

GEOTHERMAL

• Ormat Nevada files a lawsuit seeking to revoke federal Endangered Species Act protections for a toad that lives near its proposed Dixie Meadows geothermal project in the northern part of the state. (Bloomberg Law)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Oil and gas industry officials say the government shutdown could slow drilling on federal lands if it lasts more than a few days. (E&E News)

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs a bill allowing the sale of gasoline containing up to 15% ethanol as part of an effort to tackle high fuel prices. (Bloomberg)

PUBLIC LANDS

• The federal Bureau of Land Management begins overhauling its recently finalized resource management plan for southwestern Wyoming to bring it into line with the Trump administration’s ​“Energy Dominance” agenda. (WyoFile)

COMMENTARY

• An environmental advocate calls on federal regulators to reject the proposed Greenlink North transmission project in Nevada, saying it would harm sage grouse habitat and open remote landscapes to energy development. (Sage & Sand)

• California columnist Sammy Roth applauds the imminent shutdown of the Intermountain coal plant in Utah and explores what’s next for the facility. (Los Angeles Times)

NEW FROM CANARY 

• Trump admin targets blue-state grants meant to ease US electricity woes — Jeff St. John

• Chart: Global investment in renewables hits record even as US falters — Dan McCarthy

• Duke Energy backs off renewables after North Carolina cuts climate goal — Elizabeth Ouzts

• Trump’s tariffs spur US aluminum industry to boost recycling — Maria Gallucci

• Pennsylvania’s solar ambitions face high federal and state hurdles — Audrey Carleton