Vermont’s unprecedented climate threat

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.

POLITICS

• In a new legal filing, the U.S. EPA provides no direct evidence of waste, fraud, or abuse in the distribution of $20 billion in ​“green bank” funds that it has frozen from climate nonprofits. (E&E News)

• The U.S. Energy Department and NOAA begin hiring back fired probationary employees, though they’ll remain on administrative leave as court cases play out. (Axios)

• The EPA moves to eliminate its scientific research arm, which could hamper monitoring and cleanup of toxic water, air quality, and industrial sites, (New York Times)

• President Trump signs into law a measure to block implementation of methane emissions fees on oil and gas companies. (Grist)

CLEAN ENERGY

• President Trump last week rescinded a Biden era policy that invoked the federal Defense Production Act to help spur domestic production of solar panels, heat pumps, and building insulation. (E&E News)

• Conservative environmental groups and business leaders join Republicans who are lobbying the Trump administration and Congress to preserve clean energy tax credits. (New York Times)

• A plan to transform a New York City fossil fuel power plant into a hub for wind, geothermal, and storage, including a transmission line to a future offshore wind farm, is complicated by the Trump administration’s pause on further offshore wind development. (Gothamist)

• A new report finds 82,000 Georgia residents now work in the state’s cleantech industry, with the majority in the energy efficient appliance industry, followed by renewables, electric vehicles, and storage. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

NUCLEAR

• South Carolina state utility Santee Cooper moves to find buyers for two unfinished, 1.1 GW nuclear reactors after mothballing them in 2017 when the planned expansion of a nuclear plant collapsed. (Utility Dive)

• The Trump administration releases nearly $57 million disbursement of an up-to-$1.52 billion federal loan to support the restart of the Michigan Palisades nuclear plant. (Detroit Free Press)

UTILITIES

• An environmental group reports six investor-owned U.S. utilities disconnected 20% more customers over the first nine months of 2024 than they did the entire year before. (Grist)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• A report finds 10 states achieved their 2013 goal of collectively registering 3.3 million new electric vehicles by 2025. (Oregon Capital Chronicle)

GRID

• Federal regulators affirm the transmission rules that govern an exchange market for Southeast utilities to trade energy, rejecting arguments by groups challenging regulators’ approval of the market. (Utility Dive)

• Wisconsin legislation to give in-state utilities first rights to build transmission projects is meeting fierce resistance from free-market and consumer groups that say competition is more likely to drive down costs for ratepayers. (E&E News)