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Policy Watch

Trump’s Energy Direction: 5 Early Takeaways

And more on this week’s top policy and energy news.

Trump and wind.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images.

Trump’s energy direction – We’re far enough into the Trump 2.0 transition that I can offer a few specific insights having covered him the first go-around.

  1. Trump’s pick for Interior Secretary Doug Burgum indicates any form of energy or resource extraction prevalent in his state of North Dakota could be safe from the wrath of political meddling in permitting. That includes onshore wind and battery metals.
  2. Trump’s selection for Energy Secretary – gas CEO Chris Wright – indicates even more reason for optimism about mining given the heavy overlap between companies in historic fracking development and U.S. lithium industry growth.
  3. Trump’s EPA pick Lee Zeldin previously backed legislation to ease permitting for renewable energy, though I anticipate from his lack of agency leadership experience that he’ll be more deferential to political directions than a former governor or CEO.
  4. Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick was chosen for the Commerce Department, which will dictate tariff proposals. Although Cantor Fitzgerald itself supports the “megatrend” that is the energy transition, I expect China hawkishness to prevail above fear of short-term impact on American renewables projects.
  5. Even with all this, you should expect the deputy picks to matter for solar and wind. Trump 1.0 began with figurehead agency leaders (Ryan Zinke at Interior, Scott Pruitt at EPA) and an empowered assistant administrator, who was usually a former lobbyist or ideologue. I’m anticipating the same here.

New hydrogen hub backing – The Energy Department has announced more than $2.2 billion in cost-sharing agreements with two more hydrogen hubs in the Midwest and Gulf Coast.

  • Both hubs appear to rely on both renewable energy and natural gas to get their jobs done. Given the uncertainty surrounding Trump’s views on hydrogen, it’s likely this move is intended to get out ahead of any effort to claw back funds from the infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act.

Here’s what else I’m watching…

A Virginia Circuit Court has struck down Governor Glenn Youngkin’s attempt to withdraw the state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed new legislation creating new tax breaks and financing for offshore wind as she defiantly insists the industry will continue to grow during the Trump 2.0 era.

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Spotlight

How the Tax Bill Is Empowering Anti-Renewables Activists

A war of attrition is now turning in opponents’ favor.

Massachusetts and solar panels.
Heatmap Illustration/Library of Congress, Getty Images

A solar developer’s defeat in Massachusetts last week reveals just how much stronger project opponents are on the battlefield after the de facto repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Last week, solar developer PureSky pulled five projects under development around the western Massachusetts town of Shutesbury. PureSky’s facilities had been in the works for years and would together represent what the developer has claimed would be one of the state’s largest solar projects thus far. In a statement, the company laid blame on “broader policy and regulatory headwinds,” including the state’s existing renewables incentives not keeping pace with rising costs and “federal policy updates,” which PureSky said were “making it harder to finance projects like those proposed near Shutesbury.”

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Hotspots

The Midwest Is Becoming Even Tougher for Solar Projects

And more on the week’s most important conflicts around renewables.

The United States.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

1. Wells County, Indiana – One of the nation’s most at-risk solar projects may now be prompting a full on moratorium.

  • Late last week, this county was teed up to potentially advance a new restrictive solar ordinance that would’ve cut off zoning access for large-scale facilities. That’s obviously bad for developers. But it would’ve still allowed solar facilities up to 50 acres and grandfathered in projects that had previously signed agreements with local officials.
  • However, solar opponents swamped the county Area Planning Commission meeting to decide on the ordinance, turning it into an over four-hour display in which many requested in public comments to outright ban solar projects entirely without a grandfathering clause.
  • It’s clear part of the opposition is inflamed over the EDF Paddlefish Solar project, which we ranked last year as one of the nation’s top imperiled renewables facilities in progress. The project has already resulted in a moratorium in another county, Huntington.
  • Although the Paddlefish project is not unique in its risks, it is what we view as a bellwether for the future of solar development in farming communities, as the Fort Wayne-adjacent county is a picturesque display of many areas across the United States. Pro-renewables advocates have sought to tamp down opposition with tactics such as a direct text messaging campaign, which I previously scooped last week.
  • Yet despite the counter-communications, momentum is heading in the other direction. At the meeting, officials ultimately decided to punt a decision to next month so they could edit their draft ordinance to assuage aggrieved residents.
  • Also worth noting: anyone could see from Heatmap Pro data that this county would be an incredibly difficult fight for a solar developer. Despite a slim majority of local support for renewable energy, the county has a nearly 100% opposition risk rating, due in no small part to its large agricultural workforce and MAGA leanings.

2. Clark County, Ohio – Another Ohio county has significantly restricted renewable energy development, this time with big political implications.

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Q&A

How a Heatmap Reader Beat a Battery Storage Ban

A conversation with Jeff Seidman, a professor at Vassar College.

Jeffrey Seidman.
Heatmap Illustration

This week’s conversation is with Jeff Seidman, a professor at Vassar College and an avid Heatmap News reader. Last week Seidman claimed a personal victory: he successfully led an effort to overturn a moratorium on battery storage development in the town of Poughkeepsie in Hudson Valley, New York. After reading a thread about the effort he posted to BlueSky, I reached out to chat about what my readers might learn from his endeavors – and how they could replicate them, should they want to.

The following conversation was lightly edited for clarity.

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