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Earlier this year, the Pew Research Center released a survey finding that support for expanding renewable energy had fallen dramatically among conservatives since Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 election:
Meanwhile, local opponents have been increasingly successful in fighting clean energy, sometimes with help from the fossil fuel industry as well as pervasive misinformation spreading through social media and other channels.
None of this bodes well for clean energy development in conservative, rural areas.
But in Minnesota’s southwest corner, in counties that Trump carried by 30 to 40 percentage points in the 2024 election, energy projects are still moving forward with minimal controversy, and local governments are reaping the benefits.
The secret, as ENN correspondent Frank Jossi reported last week, is collaboration. Since the 1990s, a coalition of counties now known as the Rural Minnesota Energy Board have been working together — creating consistent policy and providing accurate information locally, and lobbying at the state level to ensure they share in the profits.
The group is even credited for helping to get Republican former Gov. Tim Pawlenty to approve Minnesota’s 2008 renewable energy standard.
“The rural energy board has been a critical, important body and one of the major reasons why renewable energy has been successful in southwestern Minnesota,” Adam Sokolski, director of regulatory and legislative affairs at EDF Renewables North America, told Jossi. “Their policies have encouraged good decision-making over the years and led to a stable and productive region for energy development.”
Jossi also spoke with Chad Metz, a commissioner in Traverse County, which has a moratorium on wind and solar projects. Metz feels his county is missing out and wants it to join the rural energy board.
“The benefits [of clean energy] outweigh the negatives,” he said, “and it will just become part of life.”
🤝 A … different kind of collaboration: A Maryland county government is revealed to be behind an anti-wind website that appeared last month shortly before a Delaware county held a key vote rejecting an offshore wind substation. (Spotlight Delaware)
📈 Work to do: U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell just 0.2% in 2024 as surging electricity demand spurred more natural gas generation, putting the country further off track from its climate goals. (New York Times)
💻 Land rush? President Biden issues an executive order allowing data centers to lease public land, on the condition their facilities are powered with new clean energy resources. (E&E News)
❤️ Another fan of the IRA: Republican U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson quietly urged the EPA to award an environmental justice grant to a city in his district, just a week after President-elect Trump won the election and promised to undo the climate law behind the grant. (E&E News)
🚗 Wheels up: Analysts expect electric vehicle sales to jump 30% this year, even though the incoming Trump administration and its threat of tariffs and rolling back the EV tax credit and other incentives could slow the industry’s growth. (Associated Press)
⏱️ Photo(voltaic) finish: Solar customers and installers are rushing to complete projects before Trump’s inauguration, citing uncertainty about tariffs and federal incentives. (NPR)
FOSSIL FUELS: President Biden bans the sale of new federal drilling leases off much of the Pacific and Atlantic coasts and the eastern Gulf of Mexico, but experts say the order is unlikely to slow production as it leaves out the western Gulf, where production is at an all-time high. (E&E News)
ALSO:
HYDROGEN:
POLITICS:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
TRANSPORTATION: The first congestion pricing plan in the United States goes into effect in Manhattan after a judge declines New Jersey’s request to halt the program at the last minute. (New York Times)
EFFICIENCY: Republican-led states challenge new federal energy efficiency standards for residential construction, saying they would increase homebuilder costs and exceed Congress’ authority. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
BIOFUELS: Advocates urge Massachusetts policymakers not to lean too heavily on biofuels in their plans to decarbonize the state’s heating systems, saying there are too many questions about the possible impacts. (Energy News Network)
OFFSHORE WIND: Delaware officials and the developer of an offshore wind project sign agreements to ensure the developer will provide the state with renewable energy credits and other community benefits worth more than $128 million. (Renews)
ALSO:
EFFICIENCY:
STORAGE: A planned 325-MW battery storage project in Connecticut faces obstacles from state regulators, as well as area residents worried about possible fires. (Energy News Network)
TRANSPORTATION: New York’s newly implemented, first-in-the-nation congestion pricing plan faces challenges from both the incoming Trump administration and local opponents. (E&E News, subscription)
CLIMATE:
SOLAR: A solar farm operated by a group of municipal utilities in Massachusetts receives $2.3 million from a clean energy tax provision in the Inflation Reduction Act, one of the first public power agencies in the country to benefit from the new rule. (MassLive, subscription)
RELIABILITY: Electric utilities serving the Northeast ask federal regulators to enact gas pipeline reliability requirements to ensure power plants have enough fuel to keep the lights on. (Utility Dive)
UTILITIES: A Connecticut electric utility says regulatory decisions are the reason the state has some of the highest power prices in the country. (CT Insider)
COMMENTARY: A Massachusetts task force’s plan to use revenue from the state’s millionaire tax to stabilize the transportation system is too timid an approach for such a long-term challenge, says a transportation journalist. (CommonWealth Beacon)
MANUFACTURING: U.S. clean energy manufacturing rapidly expanded over the past four years as factories emerged to produce solar panels, batteries and electric cars, though the growth trajectory is less certain going forward under President-elect Trump. (Canary Media)
BUILDINGS: Major U.S. cities are leading the way on decarbonizing large buildings by instituting performance standards that require owners to submit energy usage data and gradually improve their performance. (Canary Media)
OIL & GAS:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: The Pentagon announces plans to blacklist Chinese company CATL, the world’s largest EV battery maker and a key partner of Tesla and Ford. (Washington Post)
GRID:
NUCLEAR: Nuclear power has suffered in the face of high-profile disasters but has a chance to make a comeback as leaders recognize its ability to generate clean, reliable energy, an environmental journalist says. (Grist)
SOLAR:
OFFSHORE WIND: The fishing industry has been a consistent opponent of offshore wind, but developers in Massachusetts have paid $8 million to local fishermen to do safety and security work for the Vineyard Wind project. (New Bedford Light)
COMMENTARY: Big tech companies should be required to shoulder the costs of new generation to power their data centers so that costs aren’t shifted on to utility ratepayers, an economist and author writes. (Utility Dive)
FINANCE: The U.S. Treasury Department releases rules governing “technology-neutral” tax credits for solar, wind, geothermal and other clean energy projects, drawing praise from renewables advocates and criticism from the fuel cell and hydrogen industry. (New York Times, Axios)
ALSO: Six major U.S.-headquartered banks have so far quit an international net-zero alliance, with some observers blaming the exodus on incoming federal Republican leadership. (The Guardian)
COAL: An analysis finds owners and operators of coal plants in 30 states are considering or have decided to delay the facilities’ planned retirements to keep up with escalating power demand, driven largely by data centers. (Floodlight)
WIND:
ELECTRIFICATION:
OIL & GAS:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
POLITICS: A U.S. Senate committee is expected to next week consider Trump’s interior secretary nominee Doug Burgum, who championed carbon capture and storage while governor of North Dakota. (Washington Post)
RENEWABLES: Texas is the top state for development of renewable energy generation and battery capacity as of the end of 2024, ranking first for wind and solar and second behind California for battery capacity. (Reuters)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
SOLAR: A renewables company announces the closing of financing for a 109 MW solar farm under construction in Georgia. (Renewables Now)
OIL & GAS:
GRID:
EMISSIONS: Mitsubishi drops its plans to build a $1.3 billion petrochemical plant that would have ranked among the top 50 greenhouse gas polluters in Louisiana, citing a drop in demand for the products it would have made. (Louisiana Illuminator)
UTILITIES: Houston’s city council denies a rate increase for CenterPoint Energy after the utility was criticized for its efforts to maintain and restore power during Hurricane Beryl, although the utility is likely to appeal the decision to state regulators. (Houston Chronicle)
POLITICS: Hundreds of Oklahoma activists rally for Gov. Kevin Stitt to issue an executive order to block new wind and solar facilities despite renewables’ relative success in the state, which ranks third in the nation for wind energy. (Heatmap)
SOLAR: Texas and California led the way for the record-breaking addition of 34 GW of new solar and 13 GW in battery storage across the U.S. last year, as 96% of all new power plants built in 2024 were carbon-free. (Canary Media)
ALSO:
OIL & GAS: Phillips 66 announces it will spend $2.2 billion to buy a Texas network of gas pipelines and processing facilities as the company aims to grow its sales of natural gas liquids. (Houston Chronicle)
STORAGE: A battery materials company cuts staffing despite Tennessee expansion plans that could draw on more than $50 million in incentives. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
UTILITIES:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Analysts expect a 30% jump in electric vehicle sales this year, even though the incoming Trump administration and its threat of tariffs and rolling back the EV tax credit and other incentives could slow the industry’s growth. (Associated Press)
GRID:
COAL: Coal mining safety advocates worry that President-elect Trump and Republican majorities in Congress could weaken a new rule to protect miners from toxic silica dust that contributes to a form of black lung disease. (Charleston Gazette-Mail)
EMISSIONS: Florida residents protest a county’s plan to build a trash incinerator in or near some diverse communities that advocates say have been disproportionately affected by toxic plants and their emissions. (KFF Health News)
CLIMATE: Louisiana officials vote to end an extra 1.36% assessment and other charges at the state-run insurer of last resort, helping lower fees as insurance rates skyrocket in the state. (Louisiana Illuminator)
COMMENTARY:
Welcome back to Energy News Weekly! Today, we’ve got an update on a long-awaited federal move that will drive the clean hydrogen industry, and a dive into what it’ll mean under the next president.
After more than a year of anticipation, the U.S. Treasury Department last week released rules for claiming federal clean hydrogen tax credits.
Hydrogen’s role in the clean energy transition is still unclear. The fuel does not release greenhouse gas emissions when burned, so it could help decarbonize heavy manufacturing and large vehicles. But today, it’s largely produced using natural gas, which means it still has a big climate impact. It’s also expensive and hard to come by.
That’s something the Inflation Reduction Act aimed to change. The huge 2022 climate law included the 45V tax credit to push developers to start producing clean hydrogen, but didn’t specify how the fuel had to be made.
As environmental advocates had hoped, the Treasury’s rule will prioritize tax credits for hydrogen made with solar and wind power. But it’ll also grant smaller benefits to hydrogen produced from fossil fuels, so long as it incorporates carbon capture — a method some advocates say could outweigh hydrogen’s climate benefits.
Even with the priority for hydrogen produced with renewables, oil industry leaders and Republican lawmakers still back the hydrogen tax credits, the Washington Post reports. So with that support in place, industry observers expect President-elect Trump to keep the incentives, albeit with a few changes to benefit fossil fuels even more.
🕚 Last-minute drilling ban: President Biden permanently bans the sale of new federal drilling leases off much of the U.S. coasts in a move that will be hard to repeal, but experts say the order is unlikely to slow oil and gas production. (E&E News, Associated Press)
🏭 A manufacturing transformation: U.S. clean energy manufacturing rapidly expanded over the past four years as factories emerged to produce solar panels, batteries and electric cars, though the growth trajectory is less certain going forward under President-elect Trump. (Canary Media)
🏙️ Urban decarbonization: Major U.S. cities are leading the way on decarbonizing large buildings by instituting standards that require owners to submit energy usage data and gradually improve their performance. (Canary Media)
🛢️ Oil’s playbook: An investigation reveals oil and gas companies’ “playbook” for shirking liability for environmental damage, avoiding cleaning up their wells and offloading reclamation costs to taxpayers. (ProPublica)
🚘 EVs roll through winter: 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)
⚡️ Gridlocked: A lack of transmission lines on the U.S. power grid and stalled interconnection processes remain the biggest barriers to continued clean energy growth, experts say. (Canary Media)
💰 Cost/benefit: The Inflation Reduction Act’s tax credits will cost around $656 billion but deliver as much as $2.7 trillion in net benefits over the next decade, a report commissioned by a clean power group finds. (Utility Dive)
A long-running local government collaboration in southwestern Minnesota is helping to insulate the region from the kind of controversies and misinformation that have plagued rural clean energy projects in other states.
The Rural Minnesota Energy Board has its origins in a regional task force that was set up during the mid-1990s as the state’s first wind farms were being built. The task force was instrumental in persuading state legislators in 2002 to create a wind energy production tax, which today generates millions of dollars in annual revenue for counties and townships that host wind projects.
The group’s scope and membership has since gradually expanded to include 18 rural counties that pay monthly dues for support on energy policy and permitting. The board represents members at the state legislature and in Public Utilities Commission proceedings. At home, it facilitates community meetings with project developers, helps draft energy-related ordinances, and educates members and the public on the benefits of energy projects.
The result, say clean energy advocates and developers, has been a uniquely consistent approach to local energy policy and permitting that makes it easier for renewable companies to do business in the region.
“The rural energy board has been a critical, important body and one of the major reasons why renewable energy has been successful in southwestern Minnesota,” said Adam Sokolski, director of regulatory and legislative affairs at EDF Renewables North America. “Their policies have encouraged good decision-making over the years and led to a stable and productive region for energy development.”
EDF Renewables has worked with the board on at least nine projects in the region. Sokolski said he’s come to admire its approach to policy making, its support for transmission projects, and its efforts to educate members on clean energy.
“It’s positive to have county leaders talking to each other about energy projects, about how … they can approach those projects so they best benefit their constituents and the public,” he said.
Southwest Minnesota has the state’s densest concentration of wind turbines and is increasingly attracting solar developers, too. Wind turbines account for more than 4,500 megawatts, or around 22%, of the state’s generation capacity, making Minnesota a top 10 state for wind production.
The board counts the wind production tax among its most significant accomplishments. Large wind farms pay $1.20 per megawatt-hour of generation. Counties receive 80% of the revenue, with the remainder going to townships. A similar fee also exists for large solar projects.
The fee delivers millions of dollars annually, allowing local governments to construct buildings and repair bridges and roads without raising their levies for years. According to American Clean Power, Minnesota municipalities receive $44 million annually in taxes, and private landowners receive nearly $41 million in lease payments from wind and solar companies.
That has enabled counties to stave off opposition by pointing out that turbines and solar are economic development, according to Jason Walker, community development director for the Southwest Regional Development Commission, which manages the board, said the local government revenue generated from wind and solar projects has helped reduce opposition to projects.
“It’s all economic development here,” Walker said.
When opposition does emerge, such as around a recent 160 megawatt solar project in Rock County in the state’s far southwest corner, the board works with commissioners to make sure local leaders have factual information as opposed to misinformation.
Peder Mewis, regional policy director for the Clean Grid Alliance, praised the board for creating an information-sharing culture among members that helps prepare them for clean energy development. He said many developers appreciate that the region’s ordinances are similar because of the board, and that they have maintained good relationships with members over the years.
“There are other parts of the state that are thinking, ‘Is there something here that we could replicate or duplicate?’” Mewis said.
Jay Trusty, executive director of the Southwest Regional Development Commission, said the board plays an essential role in lobbying for state policy to support clean energy development. In addition to the production taxes, the board regularly defends the local distribution of those funds when lawmakers consider other uses for the revenue. The board more recently lobbied for changes to the state transmission permitting process, which were approved this year, and it supported an expansion for Xcel Energy’s CapX 2020 high-voltage transmission project before state utility regulators.
Minnesota Public Utilities Commissioner John Tuma recalled the board’s support for the state’s 2008 renewable energy standard, which gave Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty important rural support for signing the legislation.
“They bring an economic voice to the table,” Tuma said, adding that the board continues to be active in conversations about regional grid policies.
Nobles County Commissioner Gene Metz has served on the board for 12 years. The region’s decades of experience and collaboration on wind energy has helped make residents more comfortable with clean energy projects, he said, leading to fewer controversies.
In counties outside the board’s territory, “they’re getting more pushback, especially on solar projects,” he said.
Gene’s cousin, Chad Metz, serves as a commissioner in Traverse County, which is not a member and has a mortarium on clean energy projects. Chad Metz sees clean energy as inevitable and wants the county to join the rural energy board to protect its economic interests. “The benefits outweigh the negatives, and it will just become part of life,” he said.
Gov. Janet Mills wants to make a new department focused on the state’s energy needs and goals.
In her upcoming biennial budget proposal that is expected on Friday, Mills will outline her plan for the current Governor’s Energy Office to be elevated to a cabinet-level department. This would be a budget-neutral initiative that would allow for more comprehensive and consistent management of Maine’s energy system, according to a news release from the governor’s office Wednesday.
If the budget proposal is approved by the Maine Legislature, the Governor’s Energy Office would transition to the Maine Department of Energy Resources by the end of this year. It would be led by a commissioner, who would be appointed by the governor and subject to legislative confirmation.
In recent years, the Maine Legislature has significantly expanded the responsibilities of the Governor’s Energy Office. For example, the office has secured more than $200 million in federal funding to support grid resilience and innovation, energy efficiency and workforce development.
“By designating a cabinet seat focused solely on energy issues, Maine will be in a stronger position to deliver more affordable energy, advance our energy goals, and grow the state’s economy,” said Dan Burgess, director of the Governor’s Energy Office.
The new energy department would be the lead agency on energy resources, policies, planning, data, markets, energy security and program implementation; all of which currently fall to the Governor’s Energy Office.
Like those in other states, Maine’s new department would have additional authority to conduct competitive energy procurements to meet the state’s power demands and reliability needs. It would also continue to coordinate with the Maine Public Utilities Commission and other state, regional and federal partners.
State law requires Maine to transition to renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions; however, it must be done while ensuring that Mainers will still have access to affordable, reliable and secure energy, said Maine Sen. Mark Lawrence (D-York) and state Rep. Melanie Sachs (D-Freeport), who serve as co-chairs of the Maine Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee, in a joint statement.
In 2022, Mills signed into law a state goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. The next year, she set a new target of 100% clean electricity by 2040. She also established the Maine Climate Council, which is responsible for maintaining the state’s four-year roadmap to meeting those and other climate goals.
“Regular planning, evaluation, and education delivered by a dedicated agency will ensure the consistency needed to keep Maine on a path toward these goals,” Lawrence and Sachs said in the release. “There’s a reason why this concept has been proposed previously in bipartisan fashion.”
Maine also has a goal of creating three gigawatts of offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine — enough to power between 675,000 and 900,000 homes — installed by the end of 2040. While the state was awarded a lease for a research array with up to 12 floating turbines to help inform how floating offshore wind operates and interacts with ecosystems in the water, the future of the renewable energy source hangs in the balance with President-elect Donald Trump having said he would seek to halt all offshore wind projects.
In 2017, during the LePage administration, state Rep. Kenneth Fredette (R-Newport) introduced legislation to establish an energy seat in the cabinet that would be responsible for energy planning, data analysis and the implementation of an oil dependence reduction plan. The bill was supported by the Legislature’s energy committee at the time, but died upon adjournment.
The Maine State Chamber of Commerce said Wednesday it supports Mills’ proposal, noting that energy is one of the most pressing issues for the state’s economy.
“Addressing energy affordability and meeting our state’s climate targets will require careful planning and execution and the Chamber looks forward to working with the Administration on those efforts with a cabinet-level Energy Department leading that effort,” said President and CEO Patrick Woodcock in the release.
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