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Hotspots

Is Trump Already Killing Off Renewable Energy Projects?

And more of the week’s news around renewable energy conflicts.

Map of renewable energy conflicts.
Heatmap Illustration

Queens County, New York – TotalEnergies’ first Attentive Energy offshore wind project might be the canary in the Trumpy renewables coal mine.

  • The New York wind project in the bight has been indefinitely paused, according to TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyenne, meaning we have our first offshore wind derailment of the Trump era, many weeks before he’s even taken office.
  • It’s unclear how connected Trump is to the move. Attentive Energy also pulled out of New York state’s fifth offshore wind solicitation before this news dropped, which also arrived days before the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management implemented new requirements for projects built in the area where the project would be built.
  • However, remember that even though Attentive Energy has little opposition in New York State, anti-offshore activists are aggressively challenging efforts by New Jersey state to buy power from the project.
  • We’ll have to wait and see if this decision is a domino for other offshore wind curtailments. But we’re already seeing evidence, as Shell announced hours ago it is no longer investing in new offshore wind projects.

Clinton County, Michigan – EV manufacturing news in Michigan is showing that fallout from Trump’s election may not be limited to offshore wind, and could creep into other projects facing grassroots opposition.

  • Two manufacturing sites planned for construction in the Mitten State were quietly canceled over the Thanksgiving holiday. The sites were proposed on large swathes of rural land and led to local opposition against so-called “industrial” sites on farmland – a conflict similar to problems we see in solar energy.
  • The manufacturing plants under development by a Michigan economic development corporation were marketed as compatible with EV and microchip production as the state was angling to be a zero-emission tech hub. Both industries may lose federal subsidies under the now GOP-controlled Congress.
  • Then General Motors sold its stake in a separate battery plant, because it says more plants were no longer necessary. Is this a trend or a fluke of bad news?

Linn County, Iowa – Even carbon pipelines facing opposition are getting canceled right now, after Wolf Carbon Solutions rescinded its project application to the Iowa Utilities Board.

  • Like other projects – Summit, Navigator – the Wolf carbon pipeline has faced resistance at the local level. The project would cross multiple Iowa counties and extend into Illinois.
  • “While Wolf has continued to build relationships with landowners and stakeholders interested in the Project, a number of factors have continued to delay Wolf’s ability to proceed with the Project and Wolf has decided to cease pursuit of the required regulatory approvals at this time,” the company stated in a filing to the utilities board on Monday.
  • As we’ve explained, carbon pipelines should get at least some support from the Trump 2.0 administration. But as Wolf may show, the projects most likely to benefit will be those already far enough along in permitting to withstand the market uncertainties created by political instability, like Summit.

Here’s what else we’re watching right now …

In California, the city of Escondido has extended its moratorium against the Seguro battery storage project. (Consider us shocked.)

In Illinois, an Acconia Energy solar farm’s application with the Will County government is being delayed over local opposition.

In Nebraska, NextEra is facing resistance to a new 2,400 acre solar farm in Lancaster County.

In Oklahoma, momentum for a moratorium is building in Lincoln County, an area once friendly to wind development.

In New York, the small town of Glenville rejected a small solar project proposed by a Nexamp subsidiary.

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Hotspots

Fox News Goes After a Solar Farm

And more of this week’s top renewable energy fights across the country.

Map of U.S. renewable energy.
Heatmap Illustration

1. Otsego County, Michigan – The Mitten State is proving just how hard it can be to build a solar project in wooded areas. Especially once Fox News gets involved.

  • Last week, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources said it wanted to lease more than 400 acres of undeveloped state-owned forestland for part of a much larger RWE Clean Energy solar project near the northern Michigan town of Gaylord.
  • Officials said they were approached by the company about the land. But the news sparked an immediate outcry, as state elected Republicans – and some Democrats – demanded to know why a forest would be cleared for ‘green’ energy. Some called for government firings.
  • Then came the national news coverage. On Friday, Fox News hosted a full four-minute segment focused on this one solar farm featuring iconoclastic activist Michael Shellenberger.
  • A few days later, RWE told the media it would not develop the project on state lands.
  • “[D]uring the development process, we conducted outreach to all landowners adjacent to the project location, including the Michigan Department of Natural Resources,” the company said in a statement to the Petoskey News-Review, adding it instead decided to move forward with leasing property from two private landowners.

2. Atlantic County, New Jersey – Opponents of offshore wind in Atlantic City are trying to undo an ordinance allowing construction of transmission cables that would connect the Atlantic Shores offshore wind project to the grid.

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Policy Watch

How to Solve a Problem Like a Wind Ban

And more of this week’s top policy news around renewables.

Trump.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

1. Trump’s Big Promise – Our nation’s incoming president is now saying he’ll ban all wind projects on Day 1, an expansion of his previous promise to stop only offshore wind.

  • “They litter our country like paper, like dropping garbage in a field,” Trump said at a press conference Tuesday. “We’re going to try and have a policy where no windmills are built.”
  • Is this possible? It would be quite tricky, as the president only has control over the usage of federal lands and waters. While offshore wind falls entirely under the president’s purview, many onshore wind projects themselves fall entirely on state lands.
  • This is where the whole “wind kills birds” argument becomes important. Nearly all wind projects have at least some federal nexus because of wildlife protection laws, such as the Endangered Species Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
  • Then there are the cables connecting these projects to the grid and interstate transmission projects that may require approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
  • I’m personally doubtful he will actually stop all wind in the U.S., though I do think offshore wind in its entirety is at risk (which I’ve written about). Trump has a habit of conflating things, and in classic fashion, he only spoke at the press conference about offshore wind projects. I think he was only referring to offshore wind, though I’m willing to eat my words.

2. The Big Nuclear Lawsuit – Texas and Utah are suing to kill the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s authority to license small modular reactors.

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Q&A

Are Anti-Renewables Activists Going Unchallenged?

A conversation with J. Timmons Roberts, executive director of Brown University’s Climate Social Science Network


J. Timmons Roberts
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This week’s interview is with Brown University professor J. Timmons Roberts. Those of you familiar with the fight over offshore wind may not know Roberts by name, but you’re definitely familiar with his work: He and his students have spearheaded some of the most impactful research conducted on anti-offshore wind opposition networks. This work is a must-read for anyone who wants to best understand how the anti-renewables movement functions and why it may be difficult to stop it from winning out.

So with Trump 2.0 on the verge of banning offshore wind outright, I decided to ask Roberts what he thinks developers should be paying attention to at this moment. The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

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