Trump win a ​“gut punch” to U.S. climate efforts

CLIMATE: As Republicans win control of the White House, advocates expect a massive rollback of U.S. climate initiatives echoing President Trump’s first term, including gutting EPA rules and preventing the Justice Department from defending regulations in court. (E&E News)

ALSO:

• With Republicans winning back the Senate, Democrats now have little hope of passing an anticipated follow-up to the Inflation Reduction Act, but hope increasing Republican support — and possible Democratic control of the House — will preserve existing tax credits. (E&E News)
• Analysts say demonstrated benefits for Republican states will make the IRA difficult to repeal, though the Trump administration will have multiple options to slow down its implementation. (Reuters)
• The fate of a bipartisan effort to reform energy permitting is also unclear, with one analyst saying he ​“can’t make heads or tails of what Trump would do with energy policy.” (E&E News)
• Tribal nations worry the second Trump administration will kill funding for efforts to bring clean power to off-grid reservation homes. (E&E News)

SOLAR: Share prices for solar companies plummet on the news of Trump’s win as investors fear repeal of federal incentives. (CNBC)

WIND:

• Stock prices for Vestas, Orsted and other companies have also plunged in response to Trump’s pledge for a moratorium on offshore wind, though industry representatives at a recent conference expressed confidence they could endure his second term. (Recharge News, subscription)
• Turbine blades spotted in transit off the Massachusetts coast are part of a plan to strengthen some of Vineyard Wind’s turbines, after a blade broke and fell into the water in July. (New Bedford Standard-Times)

COAL:

• A pre-election analysis found that the pace of coal plant retirements has slowed this year, and increased demand from data centers may push utilities to keep existing plants online longer. (S&P Global)
• Unless additional resources are found, a Wisconsin coal plant along Lake Michigan may need to stay open for another year to maintain grid reliability, MISO says. (RTO Insider, subscription)

OIL & GAS: While Trump has pledged to increase U.S. production of oil, which he has taken to calling ​“liquid gold,” analysts say any influence will be felt through other economic policies; oil company stocks were up this morning as investors anticipate a more favorable regulatory and tax environment. (Reuters, Barrons)

NUCLEAR:

• The owner of Three Mile Island forges ahead with plans to reopen the plant and sell power to Microsoft, following federal regulators’ rejection last week of another plan to colocate a data center at a nuclear plant. (Utility Dive)
• Xcel Energy officials consider deploying small modular nuclear reactors in Colorado to replace fossil fuel generation and meet expected long-term power demand growth. (Aurora Sentinel)

UTILITIES: One of federal prosecutors’ star witnesses in the corruption trial of former Illinois Speaker Michael Madigan testifies that ComEd funneled more than $600,000 to Madigan’s allies over several years in exchange for legislation supporting the utility. (Sun-Times)

COMMENTARY: While a second Trump term ​“will tear like a hurricane through U.S. and global climate efforts,” larger economic forces will maintain momentum on the clean energy transition, an energy journalist writes. (BusinessGreen)