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The Trump administration has declared that it is rescinding guidance for a $5 billion program that funds EV-charging installations nationwide, potentially halting states’ plans to put billions of obligated but as-yet unspent dollars to work. It’s the new administration’s latest attack on federal climate and clean energy programs authorized by Congress during the Biden administration, and like the others, it’s almost certain to be challenged in court, experts say.

The unexpected news came in a Thursday memo from the Federal Highway Administration to state transportation departments responsible for managing the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program. NEVI was created by the bipartisan infrastructure law passed by Congress in 2021 to establish reliable charging along major highways across the country. The program is structured to guarantee states access to funds under federally approved plans through fiscal year 2026.

The memo states that FHWA is ​“immediately suspending the approval” of these state plans pending a U.S. Department of Transportation review. States’ ​“reimbursement of existing obligations will be allowed in order to not disrupt current financial commitments,” the memo notes. But ​“no new obligations may occur” until new guidance is developed and states submit and receive approval for their updated plans — a process that could last through the rest of this year.

The memo’s instructions conflict with longstanding practice of guaranteeing states access to federal highway spending as well as with the structure of the NEVI program set by Congress in the infrastructure law.

“Freezing these EV charging funds is yet another one of the Trump administration’s unsound and illegal moves,” Katherine García, Sierra Club’s clean transportation for all director, said in a Friday statement. ​“This is an attack on bipartisan funding that Congress approved years ago and is driving investment and innovation in every state, with Texas as the largest beneficiary.” The Lone Star State is slated to receive nearly $408 million from the program.

Of the $5 billion authorized by NEVI, $3.27 billion has been obligated to all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, according to EV-charging data firm Paren. Of that, roughly $615 million is under contract for constructing almost 1,000 charging sites, Loren McDonald, Paren’s chief analyst, said in a webinar last month.

In a Thursday email, McDonald highlighted that ​“companies that are under contract with a state and have incurred expenses will get reimbursed.” At the same time, ​“the experts in Washington, D.C., that we have spoken to in the last few months believe that changes in NEVI like this would require a change in the law from Congress.”

“Our understanding is that FHWA does not have the authority to actually halt or revise the NEVI program this extensively, but will move forward, creating havoc for several months until lawsuits, the courts, and Congress resolve it,” he wrote.

Under the Biden administration, NEVI program formula funding was allocated through fiscal year 2026, and FHWA had approved states’ annual spending plans through fiscal year 2025, Kelsey Blongewicz, policy analyst at research firm Atlas Public Policy, told Canary Media last month.

That funding is ​“tied to approved state plans and contracts that makes it nearly impossible to reverse or stop,” Beth Hammon, senior EV infrastructure advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council, wrote in a blog post last month.

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Still, FHWA’s new instructions ​“create great uncertainty for the billions of dollars states and private companies are investing in the urgently needed infrastructure to support America’s highway transportation network,” Ryan Gallentine, managing director at Advanced Energy United, said in a Thursday statement. The trade group represents EV manufacturers, charging infrastructure developers, and other companies involved in NEVI-funded projects.

“States are under no obligation to stop these projects based solely on this announcement,” he wrote. ​“We call on state DOTs and program administrators to continue executing this program until new guidance is finalized.”

President Donald Trump attacked EVs and the NEVI program on the campaign trail. His administration issued an executive order within hours of his inauguration demanding a halt to all Biden-era climate and clean energy spending and singled out the NEVI program for scrutiny.

Federal agencies have since halted the flow of tens of billions of dollars of federal climate and clean energy funding, drawing outrage from state agencies, nonprofit groups, and companies that have been unable to recover money already spent on projects and programs. Two federal judges have responded to lawsuits challenging the freeze by issuing court orders demanding a halt to them, but a multitude of programs remain inaccessible, according to reports from grant recipients.

Confusion over the NEVI program’s future comes at a moment when significant investments are starting to flow from states to EV-charging manufacturers and charging-network providers — including Tesla — after years of bureaucratic and administrative delays. Federal data as of November tracked 126 operational public charging ports at 31 sites built using NEVI funding.

The Biden administration hoped to spur the buildout of 500,000 public charging stations by 2030, up from about 206,000 today. The NEVI program wasn’t intended to build all those chargers itself but to help install them in places where the economics of providing EV charging aren’t yet supported by the number of EVs on the road, McDonald said.

“In many states, the NEVI program helped jumpstart investment in high-speed EV charging stations, getting high-speed chargers at the gas stations and truck stops where millions of drivers already stop every year,” Ryan McKinnon, spokesperson for Charge Ahead Partnership, a trade group representing fueling-station owners and convenience store chains that make up the majority of NEVI charging sites, said in a Friday statement. ​“Other states dragged their feet.”

According to McDonald, since NEVI was singled out by the Trump administration, six states have indefinitely discontinued work on it, including Ohio, the Republican-led state that installed the program’s first live chargers in 2023.

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UPDATE: In a Friday email, an FHWA spokesperson stated the agency is ​“utilizing the unique authority afforded under the NEVI Formula Program to ensure the Program operates efficiently and effectively and aligns with current U.S. DOT policies and priorities.”

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Massachusetts’ attorney general says plans by the state’s major utilities to lower the cost of charging electric vehicles would offer little actual savings for customers.

In response to a 2022 Massachusetts climate law, the state’s two primary electric utilities, Eversource and National Grid, have proposed plans to create lower rates for charging EVs during off-peak hours, which they say would be implemented no sooner than 2029.

In a regulatory filing last week, however, the state’s attorney general said the utilities’ estimated savings for customers are based on faulty calculations and would be much lower in reality. Plus, a requirement that households and small businesses pay for additional meters to track their charging stations’ power use ​“negates all financial value for the customer.”

With this filing, the attorney general’s office joins climate advocates who support the idea of offering EV drivers the chance to save money by charging during off-peak hours but take issue with the way utilities propose to implement the strategy.

“If you require that people install a second meter and that they cover the cost of that installation, nobody’s going to do it,” said Anna Vanderspek, electric vehicle program director at the Green Energy Consumers Alliance.

Regulators have asked the utilities for feedback on the attorney general’s concerns and recommendations by February 20. A spokesperson for Eversource did not specifically address the attorney general’s criticism when asked about it but said the utility believes in the benefits of time-of-use pricing and looks forward to continuing the regulatory process. National Grid did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

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State law calls for EV charging program

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More than a third of cars sold in the United States are likely to be EVs by 2030, J.D. Power forecasts, a prospect that has many industry and elected leaders wondering whether the country’s electric infrastructure is ready to provide power for this growing, gas-free fleet.

Massachusetts has set the ambitious target of putting 900,000 EVs on the road — and on the grid — by 2030. So, like other states facing the same challenges, Massachusetts has turned to the idea of using financial incentives to encourage EV owners to charge during off-peak hours and to lower the cost of charging for drivers in a state where electricity prices are among the highest in the country.

“Electric vehicle time-of-use rates could be a very valuable tool for helping to alleviate the load on the system as well as helping to incentivize people to think about when they’re using electricity,” said Priya Gandbhir, director of clean power at the Conservation Law Foundation.

In the 2022 climate law, legislators required utilities to propose these so-called time-of-use rates, which both Eversource and National Grid did in August 2023.

Eversource’s plan calls for a $15 monthly fee and an off-peak EV charging rate of 19 cents per kilowatt-hour, slightly more than half the proposed peak rate. National Grid would impose a $10 monthly fee and charge 14 cents per kilowatt-hour for off-peak charging, half what the peak rate would be. Both plans would require a separate meter, and both contend the rates cannot be implemented before advanced metering infrastructure is rolled out and tested, a process they expect to take at least four years.

Regulators must rule on these proposals by the end of October.

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‘The math just doesn’t work out’

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The numbers laid out by the utilities don’t add up to savings for consumers, the attorney general’s testimony argues. Thus, the proposals are unlikely to motivate more people to buy EVs or to shift their charging times.

The utilities did not estimate the cost of installing a separate meter, but online estimates run from $1,400 to more than $4,000. At the same time, the utilities drastically overstated the savings their plans would yield by using inflated estimates for how many kilowatt-hours the average driver would use to charge their EV, the attorney general’s testimony says. Rather than saving as much as $146 a month, as the utilities calculated, drivers would cut their bill by $21 per month at most, assuming they do all of their charging during off-peak hours. Customers who sometimes charge during peak hours could even see bill increases.

“The math just doesn’t work out,” Vanderspek said.

The attorney general’s office recommends that public utilities regulators reject National Grid and Eversource’s proposals and offers several alternative approaches. The simplest, the testimony says, would be to offer whole-home time-of-use rates, rather than separating out the vehicle charging load. Evidence from other states suggests such a rate could be implemented during the roll-out of advanced metering infrastructure, rather than waiting the minimum of four years the utilities say would be necessary for an EV-specific rate. The filing points to Colorado, where time-of-use rates are rolling out in concert with advanced metering infrastructure.

Another option would be to use data collected by vehicle computer systems or chargers themselves to issue rebates or apply lower rates for charging done at off-peak times. Utilities in California and Minnesota have already deployed this approach.

The same data could be used to offer other financial incentives. National Grid, in fact, already offers such a program in Massachusetts, giving customers 5 cents per kilowatt-hour for off-peak EV charging during the summer and 3 cents per kilowatt-hour the rest of the year.

Any of these approaches could be used not just to improve financial incentives for customers but also to speed up their implementation, to the benefit of both consumers and the environment, Vanderspek said.

“We’re all better off if we’re shifting that load off-peak right now,” she said.

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The Trump administration singled out funding for electric vehicle chargers in his orders halting climate and clean energy spending, but experts say agencies legally can’t hold back these ​“mandatory” grants allocated by Congress. (Canary Media)

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POLITICS:

• The U.S. Office of Management and Budget rescinds its memo freezing federal grant and loan disbursement after it sparked panic from organizations that rely on federal funds, but confusion remains. (Associated Press, NPR)
• Federal lawmakers fear the Trump administration’s push to oust federal employees will jeopardize energy and environmental projects in their states by delaying permitting. (E&E News)
• The U.S. Senate confirms Lee Zeldin to lead the EPA after a hearing in which he affirmed climate change’s existence but supported President Trump’s skepticism. (Associated Press)
• The Trump administration dismisses the U.S. EPA’s outside advisers on science and clean air, clearing the way to replace them with allies. (Inside Climate News)

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SOLAR:

• The U.S. EPA pauses disbursement of $7 billion in Solar for All grants, which were meant to finance community and rooftop solar arrays in low-income communities. (E&E News)
• Community solar developments are proliferating in New York, but President Trump’s moves to stymie renewable energy growth could jeopardize this progress. (New York Times)

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OIL & GAS: The Trump administration directs the Army Corps of Engineers to use emergency powers to sidestep the Clean Water Act to build gas pipelines, but environmentalists say they don’t have that authority. (E&E News)

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‍GRID:

• New Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Mark Christie says he plans to prioritize grid reliability, proposals to co-locate large loads with power plants, and high electricity costs in his tenure. (Utility Dive)
• More details come to light regarding electrical faults on Southern California Edison’s Los Angeles-area grid in the moments before the deadly Eaton Fire broke out. (New York Times)
• PJM agrees to set a price cap and floor for its next two capacity auctions to control forecasted spikes in energy prices for ratepayers. (Utility Dive)

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HYDROGEN: A last-minute infusion of funds from the Biden administration will allow the Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hub to begin planning and collecting community input, though some environmental advocates are skeptical the process will truly be climate-friendly. (Delaware Public Media)NUCLEAR: South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster calls for the expansion of the VC Summer nuclear plant, which previously collapsed in the ​“Nukegate” controversy but recently has been revived by state-owned utility Santee Cooper. (Post and Courier, South Carolina Daily Gazette)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Auto industry experts say rapidly falling battery prices and improving technology will prevent the incoming Trump administration and Republican Congress from stopping the country’s transition to electric vehicles. (New York Times)

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ALSO:

• Clean transportation advocates worry President-elect Trump will roll back the Biden administration’s “transformational” efforts on reducing pollution from large trucks and buses. (Inside Climate News)
• The Biden administration on Friday announced another $635 million in federal funding to help states, tribes, and the District of Columbia build out local electric vehicle charging networks. (E&E News)
• Volkswagen announces that an electric SUV made at its Tennessee plant no longer qualifies for a $7,500 federal tax credit because of escalating requirements for domestic sourcing of battery components and other materials. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

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CLIMATE:

• U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell by just 0.2 percent last year despite record clean energy production, as soaring demand for electricity and transportation fuel cut into the country’s climate progress. (Canary Media)
• BlackRock is the latest Wall Street firm to officially abandon a voluntary climate initiative, though experts speculate it was mostly a “political show” for President-elect Trump that won’t affect its investment strategies. (Washington Post)
• President Biden’s senior international climate advisor says the Los Angeles wildfires show “you have to take the science seriously.” (Associated Press)

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OFFSHORE WIND:

• A New Jersey congressman says he was tasked with drafting an executive order for the Trump administration to freeze offshore wind development for six months. (NJ Spotlight)
• Virginia offshore wind leaders say they aren’t worried about Trump’s anti-wind energy threats because projects in the state already have federal funding or are on timelines longer than his four-year term. (Virginian-Pilot)
• Developers are expected to sign agreements this week with New England utilities for two offshore wind farms, but the fate of a second phase of the Vineyard Wind project, which lacks federal approval, remains unclear. (WCAI)

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NATURAL GAS: A group that claimed a Maryland climate bill would be harmful to Black residents had backing from a group with ties to the fossil fuel industry, which a spokesman defends as “something that happens every day in advocacy.” (Washington Post)

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GRID:

• Investigators looking into the cause of one of the Los Angeles-area fires focus on a Southern California Edison transmission tower where witnesses saw flames, but the utility says there’s no evidence its equipment sparked the blaze. (Los Angeles Times, KQED)
• A report identifies peaker plants in Massachusetts that advocates say should be replaced with clean energy resources in order to meet the state’s 2050 climate target. (CommonWealth Beacon)

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COMMENTARY: A climate scientist writes that in order to solve the climate crisis, humanity needs to confront “billionairism,” the system that extracts wealth from the poor to the rich and perpetuates racism, patriarchy, and suffering. (The Guardian)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The inclusion of heat pumps in newer electric vehicle models is among the improvements helping to boost battery performance during cold weather, as experts say winter charging concerns have been overblown. (Inside Climate News)

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ALSO: Major proposed battery plants across Michigan have been scaled back or face local opposition as automakers scale back production targets. (Crain’s Detroit, subscription)

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EFFICIENCY:

• Iowa joins other Republican-led states in a lawsuit challenging new federal energy efficiency standards for residential construction, saying they would increase homebuilder costs and exceed Congress’ authority. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
• Illinois lawmakers push lame-duck session legislation to create an energy efficiency fund and plan for data centers as “kind of an appetizer for bigger energy stuff we’ll do in the spring.” (Chicago Tribune)

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PIPELINES: A carbon pipeline developer asks a South Dakota regulator to recuse herself from the company’s permit application because of an alleged conflict of interest, though the regulator says there is no legal conflict. (South Dakota Searchlight)

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GRID: MISO’s recently approved transmission buildout calls for six projects in Wisconsin totaling $4.1 billion in new investment. (Wisconsin Public Radio)

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NUCLEAR: 2025 could be a pivotal year for a shuttered southwestern Michigan nuclear plant as federal regulators plan to issue a final decision on its restart by the end of July. (Michigan Public)

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SOLAR: Northern Michigan GOP lawmakers call for the firing of state officials involved with a natural resources agency’s plan to clear cut and lease 420 acres of forest land for a solar project. (Detroit News)

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FOSSIL FUELS: Experts speculate that spiking energy demand from artificial intelligence and data centers could deliver the Trump administration a political victory by boosting the consumption of fossil fuels. (E&E News)

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BIOMASS: A Minnesota nonprofit says it has devised a way of burning wood and biomass that produces biochar and prevents carbon emissions from being released during the process. (Pioneer Press)

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COAL:

• Michigan utility Consumers Energy will partner with a firm to remove 60 years of coal ash deposits at a retiring Lake Michigan coal plant to be reused in a cement replacement material. (news release)
• Federal regulators begin to consider We Energies’ request to recover more than $500 million from customers for the early retirement of a Wisconsin coal plant along Lake Michigan. (RTO Insider, subscription)

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UTILITIES: MidAmerican Energy asks South Dakota regulators to recover more than $500,000 in costs stemming from a 2024 flooding event that damaged gas infrastructure. (KTIV)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The U.S. Transportation Department awards California $122.9 million to build electric vehicle charging facilities and hydrogen fueling stations. (Sacramento Bee)

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CLIMATE:

• Fossil fuel companies ask the U.S. Supreme Court to toss out Honolulu’s lawsuit seeking to hold oil and gas firms liable for damage caused by climate change. (Center Square)
• Data show Washington state’s greenhouse gas emissions dropped during the first year of the COVID pandemic, but partially rebounded in 2021. (Seattle Times)

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SOLAR:

• A study finds wildfire smoke in the Western U.S. is hampering solar generation less than previously feared, but still reduces output in panels close to blazes. (The Hill)
• The federal Bureau of Land Management greenlights the proposed 600 MW Jove solar-plus-storage project in western Arizona. (KAWC)
• Tri-State Generation & Transmission brings the 140 MW Spanish Peaks solar project online in southeastern Colorado. (news release)
• The developer of the 690 MW Gemini project in Nevada — the nation’s largest solar-plus-storage facility — looks to build more large-scale arrays to meet the “unbelievable appetite for clean energy.” (Energy Storage News, subscription)
• Portland General Electric agrees to purchase power from the 120 MW Tower solar project under development in the northeastern part of the state. (Solar Quarter)

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GRID:

• Colorado releases a microgrid roadmap aimed at leveraging local and distributed generation to increase electricity infrastructure resilience. (NBC Los Angeles)
• A nonprofit’s long-term outlook predicts California’s grid will face “critical reliability challenges” in the next decade as growing demand and planned generator retirements result in supply shortfalls. (Sacramento Bee)
• Nevada advocates appeal Reno’s approval of a proposed data center, saying the facilities use too much power to be considered industrial warehouses. (This is Reno)

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UTILITIES: Southern California utilities warn customers of potential public safety power shutoffs as unusually severe winds and dry conditions grip the region. (Mercury News)

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TRANSPORTATION: California Gov. Gavin Newsom touts progress on and plans for high-speed rail between Los Angeles and the Bay Area in advance of expected attacks on the project from the incoming Trump administration. (Los Angeles Times)

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COAL: Utah environmental groups worry a state plan to create “inland ports” to spur economic development will lead to an idled coal mine’s revival. (KSL)

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POLLUTION: Southern California environmental justice advocates push back on a proposed biofuel terminal, saying diesel pollution from shipping trucks would harm the neighboring community. (NBC San Diego)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Toyota announces plans to hire 1,600 additional workers and ship its first hybrid and electric vehicle batteries from a new North Carolina plant later this year. (Raleigh News & Observer)

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ALSO:

• Toyota receives a $4.5 million federal grant to partner with a national lab in Tennessee and others to develop a robotic disassembly process for electric vehicle batteries in hopes of building out a circular domestic battery supply chain. (Utility Dive)
• A think tank finds rising support for labor unions in Tennessee, after previously finding favorable opinions of the United Auto Workers ahead of its successful unionization of a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

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GRID:

• The director of Memphis, Tennessee’s municipal utility says it’s studying adding an additional substation and other infrastructure to address the doubling power demand of Elon Musk’s xAI supercomputer, even as the city chamber of commerce says the project will increase another tenfold in coming months. (Commercial Appeal)
• The head of a Tennessee Valley Authority power plant in Alabama says the utility spent $430 million on winterization improvements to prevent rolling blackouts like those that occurred two years ago. (WHNT)
• Texas’ grid operator issues a winter weather watch, signaling higher demand for power amid cold temperatures from a winter storm moving across the U.S. (Austin American-Statesman)

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COAL: An analysis finds owners and operators of coal plants in 30 states are considering or have decided to delay their planned retirements to keep up with escalating power demand, driven largely by data centers. (Floodlight)

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SOLAR:

• The head of a southern Virginia NAACP branch expresses concern that rampant solar development could destroy rural acreage and have a negative effect on nearby communities. (Cardinal News)
• Dozens of North Carolina residents voice their opposition to a planned 80 MW solar farm on 460 acres owned by 12 longtime landowners. (WITN)
• An energy company partners with the Florida Municipal Power Agency to complete a 75 MW solar farm that will supply power to 12 Florida cities. (Solar Power World)

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OIL & GAS:

• Florida residents and officials respond to President Biden’s ban on offshore drilling, including Republicans who call for President-elect Trump to reverse the ban while still protecting Florida from drilling. (WFLA)
• Experts say that even if Trump can reverse Biden’s new offshore drilling ban, the combination of resistance by cost-conscious producers, increased fuel efficiency in vehicles and the threat of tariffs could block his plans to jack up oil and gas production. (Politico)

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STORAGE: A company commissions two 100 MW battery storage facilities in Texas and sells the investment tax credits to a third party. (Renewables Now)

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WIND: Trump promises to block new wind energy development despite its rapid expansion in Republican-led states like Texas, where it generates 22% of the state’s electricity. (New York Times)

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UTILITIES: A judge delays Mississippi’s investigation of a troubled municipal utility to allow the city an opportunity to respond. (SuperTalk Mississippi Media)

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POLITICS: A Virginia lawmaker files legislation to block state regulators from approving rate hikes for Appalachian Power for two years. (Bristol Herald Courier)

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COMMENTARY: A new study finds Virginia will need to triple its energy production by 2040 to meet anticipated demand from data centers, writes an editor. (Cardinal News)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Electric vehicle maker Canoo announces furloughs for 82 employees in Oklahoma as it looks for additional funding, which could lead to the company being forced to repay $1 million in state job creation incentives. (Oklahoman, Frontier)

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GRID:

• Texas regulators vote down the state’s “performance credit mechanism” to require utilities, co-ops and providers to pay more to generators that committed to having electricity during times of high demand, after learning the proposal would have only generated 780 MW of new power. (Texas Tribune)
• Virginia’s booming data center sector leads to concern about its rapacious appetite for power and land, which will prompt discussion of potential restrictions during state lawmakers’ upcoming legislative session. (WVIR)

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SOLAR:

• A Virginia county planning commission pauses its consideration of a proposed 80 MW solar farm with 120 MW battery facility due to its size and complaints from worried residents. (Farmville Herald)
• A company begins operation of a 200 MW solar farm in Texas that will supply power to Microsoft. (Renewables Now)
• A company asks a Virginia county for an extension to develop a 5 MW solar farm that was approved nearly two years ago. (Farmville Herald)

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OIL & GAS:

• Emails reveal how a company proposing a large liquified natural gas export plant sends talking points and media strategy to elected officials in a nearby Texas town as it seeks federal approval for construction. (Texas Observer)
• An American Electric Power subsidiary scrambles to upgrade two Texas coal plants with natural gas-fired burners, though they still need regulatory approval. (KYTX)
• North Carolina regulators sign off on a certificate for Duke Energy to build the first of two hydrogen-capable natural gas units, though the utility still awaits approval of air permits to retire four coal-fired units and replace them with gas. (Courier-Times)
• North Carolina residents join with environmental groups to oppose a gas company’s plans to expand the capacity of its 10,000-mile Transco pipeline network across the Southeast. (Northwest Observer)

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WIND: Two Texas residents ask the state’s top court to review a ruling that found they lacked standing to challenge a neighboring wind farm’s more than $10 million tax break. (Bloomberg, subscription)

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NUCLEAR: The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar Nuclear Plant in Tennessee receives a perfect score on its emergency preparedness evaluation. (WBIR)

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HYDROGEN: The U.S. Energy Department unveils plans to conduct environmental reviews for proposed hydrogen hubs in Appalachia, California and the Northwest. (E&E News, subscription)

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CLIMATE:

• A Georgia tide gauge shows sea levels have risen by more than 7 inches since 2010, offering insight into how climate change is affecting the Southeast’s coastal regions. (Washington Post)
• Tampa, Florida, experiences its wettest year on record, experiencing Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton as well as the highest hourly rainfall on record. (WFLA)
• Congress approves 17 Louisiana flood control projects, including a $5.9 billion plan to build a levee and elevate thousands of buildings. (NOLA.com)

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UTILITIES: The New Orleans City Council approves the sale of the city’s natural gas distribution system to a private equity firm, prompting concerns about rising bills and how the sale might shield the company from local regulation and pressure to decarbonize. (NOLA.com, DeSmog)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Michigan economic development program that has invested $1 billion in five electric vehicle battery plants faces growing criticism for producing fewer jobs than promised, but backers urge patience. (Bridge)

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ALSO: EV maker Rivian begins opening its rapid-charging network to drivers of all compatible vehicles, including at locations in Illinois and Michigan. (Automotive Dive)

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OIL & GAS: An Ohio panel votes to open hundreds of acres of state parkland for hydraulic fracturing while selecting bids for drilling in a wildlife area. (Columbus Dispatch)

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CARBON CAPTURE: The latest delays for a proposed North Dakota carbon capture project cap a year with few signs of progress for U.S. coal plant owners considering carbon capture retrofits. (Inside Climate News)

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SOLAR: The U.S. solar industry is set to break installation records this year while meeting manufacturing milestones as the Inflation Reduction Act bolsters the industry. (Canary Media)

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NUCLEAR: Some farmers in the agriculture-dominant region of southwestern Michigan are concerned about potential damage to land and water if a shuttered nuclear plant there is restarted. (Investigate Midwest)

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WIND:

• Relatively smaller farms compared to other states and a push toward solar energy has left Wisconsin with less wind energy production than neighboring states, though advocates say the potential is high. (WXPR)
• Iowa farmers with decommissioned wind turbines on their property push for regulations that would require developers to clean up debris after turbines stop producing. (KCRG)

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POLITICS: Labor unions UAW and SEIU announce their support for Michigan legislation that would block utilities from directly or indirectly making campaign contributions to candidates, parties or non-candidate committees. (Michigan Advance)

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CLIMATE: Leaders of Illinois environmental and labor groups seek to find common ground on climate issues like mass transit: “​​We’re going to get more done if we’re aligned.” (Chicago Tribune, subscription)

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GRID:

• Federal regulators reject a proposal that would have given transmission owners in PJM’s territory “undue influence” over transmission planning and expansion in the grid operator’s territory. (Utility Dive)
• Federal regulators order a company to pay $27 million for fraudulently using bogus demand response resources to make offers in MISO’s capacity market. (Utility Dive)

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EFFICIENCY: An Illinois program trains students predominantly in Black and Brown communities for energy efficiency jobs. (Yale Climate Connections)

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BIOGAS:

• The IRS issues final rules for federal biofuel tax credits with updated language that’s more favorable to renewable natural gas projects that refine biogas from landfills and organic waste. (Waste Dive)
• A developer moves forward with plans for a large Northwest Indiana facility that will convert organic waste from the Chicago area into renewable natural gas. (Crain’s Chicago, subscription)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The fledgling electric vehicle battery recycling industry suffered in 2024 amid falling material prices, delayed construction projects, and reduced expectations for what recycling can deliver. (Canary Media)

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ALSO:

• Stanford University scientists reevaluate EV battery life cycles, finding they could last as much as 40% longer than previously estimated. (The Hill)
• A pilot program in California could model a way for electric vehicle charging hubs to connect to the grid more quickly by limiting their power output based on what the grid can safely supply. (Canary Media)
• EV maker Rivian begins opening its rapid-charging network to drivers of all compatible vehicles. (Automotive Dive)

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EMISSIONS: An electrification advocacy group estimates replacing every American household’s fossil fuel furnaces, hot water heaters and clothes dryers with electric alternatives could deliver $40 billion in annual health benefits. (New York Times)

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OFFSHORE WIND: An offshore wind company’s decision to put a planned wind farm on hold during the second Trump presidency is having ripple effects, endangering the development of a renewable energy hub in New York City. (Heatmap)

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CARBON CAPTURE: The latest delays for a proposed North Dakota carbon capture project cap a year with few signs of progress for U.S. coal plant owners considering carbon capture retrofits. (Inside Climate News)

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GRID:

• Federal regulators reject proposals that would have given more control over transmission planning in PJM territory to the transmission owners rather than the grid operator. (Utility Dive)
• A Virginia legislative commission releases a report predicting data center development could triple the state’s energy usage by 2040 if allowed to continue uninhibited, and calls for companies to build renewables and join demand-response programs to temper demand. (Virginia Mercury, WUSA9)
• Federal regulators order a company to pay $27 million for fraudulently using bogus demand response resources to make offers in MISO’s capacity market. (Utility Dive)

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OVERSIGHT: President-elect Trump’s promise to strengthen White House control over independent agencies could impact federal energy regulators’ nonpartisan oversight of gas and power markets.  (E&E News)

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OIL & GAS:

• President Biden is set to join other countries in calling for restricted financing for international fossil fuel projects. (E&E News)
• The Biden administration schedules an oil and gas lease sale for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge offering 400,000 acres — the minimum allowed by a 2017 law — with restrictions aimed at reducing environmental impacts. (Alaska Beacon)
• California scientists urge Gov. Gavin Newsom to close the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility that experienced a catastrophic blowout in 2015, saying its continued operation threatens public health. (Los Angeles Daily News)

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