Good morning. Texas’ deregulated energy market has proved to be a hospitable place for renewables, which have exploded and now lead the U.S. But as today’s top story explains, the booming industry faces big challenges from the Trump administration and from state lawmakers who want to block wind, solar and battery projects in favor of fossil fuels.
Other Republican states have benefitted bigly from Biden-era incentives that set off an electric vehicle and battery renaissance. New studies find Trump’s rollbacks threaten to sandbag the emerging industry.
Read on for those stories and more.
TODAY'S TOP NEWS
SOLAR
Renewable energy developers and advocates lobby Texas lawmakers against bills to restrict the booming industry, which faces growing headwinds and a potential $50 billion loss in solar investment from Trump’s repeal of clean energy tax credits. (Houston Chronicle)
South Korean company OCI Holdings announces plans to build a $265 million, 2 GW solar-cell production plant in Texas, with hopes of beginning operations next year. (Bloomberg, Business Korea)
Tampa, Florida, partners with Solar United Neighbors to help residents receive a discounted rate when purchasing solar panels as part of a larger group. (WTVT)
A North Carolina utility begins accepting applications for a community solar program powered by a 500 kW facility. (WITN)
North Carolina farmers who were awarded a 2024 federal grant to install a solar array are stuck in limbo after Trump froze federal clean energy funds. (Blue Ridge Public Radio/Grist)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
New studies find Trump’s plan to roll back electric vehicle tax credits would stifle an EV manufacturing boom in the largely Republican-led Southeast and Midwest. (E&E News)
FOSSIL FUELS
The Trump administration approves an export authorization for a liquified natural gas terminal in Louisiana, expanding its ability to send LNG to customers beyond the 20 countries the U.S. has free trade agreements with. (NOLA.com)
Trump meets with oil executives and lobbyists concerned about his tariffs, which they say will raise energy prices and erode the industry’s competitiveness. (Houston Chronicle)
Speakers at a Virginia county board meeting weigh in on a 750-acre data center campus and 3,500 MW gas-fired power plant. (Danville Register & Bee)
PIPELINES
An investment firm seems to have emerged as the leading candidate to purchase the Colonial Pipeline, the largest fuel pipeline system in the U.S. (Bloomberg)
Federal regulators conclude a public comment period on the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s proposed spur into North Carolina, fielding more than 25,000 comments with roughly 80% opposed to the extension. (Chatham Star-Tribune)
A federal judge in Virginia declines to dismiss the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s lawsuits against protestors who the pipeline says blocked construction by chaining themselves to equipment. (Bloomberg)
GRID
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin considers signing a bill establishing “virtual power plants” that pull energy from multiple sources. (WVTF)
WIND
Offshore wind proponents make their case to Louisiana lawmakers, emphasizing economic benefits as Trump tries to strangle the burgeoning industry. (Louisiana Illuminator)
HYDROGEN
Louisiana Tech University researchers receive $275,000 in state funding to investigate using robots to monitor carbon-dioxide levels and to develop a new way to make clean hydrogen. (news release)
COMMENTARY
Louisiana state lawmakers’ discussion about building an offshore wind industry is a hopeful sign for renewables and utility customers in a state with escalating power bills and lower reliability from fossil fuels, writes a journalist. (Louisiana Illuminator)
NEW FROM CANARY MEDIA
Jeff St. John breaks down a new report warning that Americans will suffer higher energy bills if Inflation Reduction Act incentives are repealed.
