Good morning, happy Friday, and happy Easter weekend…🐣💐🐰

This week, another massive power outage plunged Puerto Rico into darkness, and the administration ordered an immediate halt to construction of Equinor’s Empire Wind offshore project.

President Trump signed an executive order calling for modernization of the environmental permitting process; a day later, he launched a probe of U.S. mineral imports that could lead to new tariffs, further escalating the trade war with China, which controls much of the world’s supply of critical and rare earth minerals need for key industries – including clean energy.

The latest update from E2 finds that $8 billion in renewable energy investments has been canceled since January, more than three times the total investments canceled over the previous 30 months combined. Meanwhile, a federal judge ordered that $20 billion in IRA funds for climate and infrastructure projects must immediately be unfrozen, although the EPA quickly appealed the ruling. 

One bit of good news: a new GAO report says “NOAA Fisheries does not anticipate any death or serious injury to whales from offshore wind related actions and has not recorded marine mammal deaths from offshore wind activities,” while also recommending that the Interior Department do a better job of reaching out to tribes and the fishing industry. 

Read on for more.

New reports released this week say the current administration’s efforts to derail the U.S. clean energy transition may hinder progress, but won’t be enough to “stop renewables from rising or fossil fuels from slowing.” Here are several points to keep in your back pocket:

• The EIA and BloombergNEF reports both see electricity use rising due to increased demands from AI and data centers; the EIA forecasts that U.S. renewables will continue to expand, “becoming the country’s leading source of power generation by the early 2030s” and more than tripling by 2050.  
• Nevertheless, while policy decisions may not be enough to alter the trend toward low-cost clean energy in the long run, in the short term they could have a big impact on the fate of clean energy incentives in the IRA.
• Last Thursday, House Republicans passed a budget blueprint that lays the groundwork for cuts to the IRA, although GOP leaders are facing calls to protect tax credits vital to clean energy, and “four Senate Republicans sent a letter to Majority Leader John Thune urging him to be judicious.”

Putting the Power in PowerPoint. As House and Senate Republicans “spend the next several weeks hashing out the details of their reconciliation bill,” the fate of many clean energy projects and advanced manufacturing facilities hangs in the balance. SEIA held its annual clean energy manufacturing day this week and members were out in force on Capitol Hill, making the case for solar’s low cost and fast deployment, as well as the investment boost it’s already begun to deliver to American manufacturing.

A recent article in Stateline looks at how opponents of renewable energy have shifted their focus from stopping projects at the local level to targeting state legislatures – where they’re making headway, powered in part by funding from the oil and gas industry. Here are some moves to keep an eye on:

• Texas has seen the most activity, where “lawmakers have filed dozens of wind- and solar-related bills this session.” That includes a bill “opposed by the rural Texans its author says it would protect” that would introduce “a really arbitrary discriminatory permitting regime” for wind and solar projects and could negatively impact grid reliability.
• Republican legislators in Missouri are working to advance a bill that would increase taxes for farmers who have leased their land for solar or wind development, and in Oklahoma, clean energy opponents rallied to urge the governor to halt new projects.
• As we reported last week, a bill introduced in Arizona would effectively ban new wind projects, and in Ohio, 26 counties have banned renewable energy projects.

The Price of Progress. In his most recent report, research scientist Joshua Rhodes found that Texas landowners are expected to receive nearly $30 billion in lease payments from current and planned clean energy projects. Many Texas landowners appreciate the economic benefits they bring, and so do their elected representatives. For its part, ERCOT has expressed concern that recently introduced legislation designed to harm renewables and benefit fossil fuels will mess with the market and could undermine its ability to meet forecasted demand.

• Static: Renewable PPA prices shrug off the tariff roller coaster – at least for now 
• High Profile: DOGE comes for clean energy, putting Exxon and Occidental projects at risk
• Coping Mechanisms: Data center boom tests Arizona’s power grid
• “Agility and Refinement Required”: Microsoft 'slowing or pausing' some AI data center projects, including $1B plan for Ohio 
• MD as an “Extension Cord”: Transmission line conflicts ahead as US electricity demand booms
• “Postponed Indefinitely”: US BESS investment ‘already impacted’ by tariffs, but industry predicted to remain resilient
• Art of the Deal: Trump has a $350 billion deal for Europe: Buy our energy 
• Adios, Au Revoir, Auf Wiedersehen: PJM CEO to exit at year’s end amid political backlash and Obligatory homage to Lawrence Welk
• PJM Pile-on: Blue state officials spooked by voter backlash to rising power prices 
• Duck, Duck, Go: EPA allows dozens of coal plants to duck pollution limits 
• Go Big or Go Home: Report: Energy leaders present six big ideas to help avoid US electricity crisis
• Course Correction: Clean energy advocates demand overhaul of Illinois storage report
• Property Rights?: NC Ag Committee weighs bill to disincentivize solar on farmland 
• Quaker State: Federal lawsuit claims Crawford, PA municipality violated solar developer's civil rights and A solar developer strikes back at ‘corrupt’ officials in Pennsylvania
• Pipped at the Post? In California, solar generation could finally surpass gas this year 
• Texas Trifecta: 
  • Texas could see energy demand double by 2031
  • These charts reveal the daunting challenge facing ERCOT in the next five years 
  • What in tarnation is going on in Texas? 

• CA: Vistra withdraws application for a BESS project in Morro Bay
• CO: Elbert County Board of Commissioners consider holding a special use request (SUR) hearing regarding Sundance Solar + Storage Project
• CO: Montezuma County pauses new utility-scale solar applications for six months
• CO: Alamosa County officials deny permit for joint venture's 320 MWh solar hybrid 
• CT: City of Bristol Zoning Commission review amendment to allow BESS as an accessory use in various zones
• GA: Ware County Board of Commissioners discuss solar farm regulation
• IL: Logan County Board to discuss engineering agreement with ConnectGen for Pike Creek Wind Project
• IA: Butler County enacts temporary moratorium on data centers and BESS
• MA: Easthampton Board of Public Works to discuss Jupiter Power' Westfield BESS Project in Hampshire County
• MI: Otsego County fights RWE solar project, challenges changes to clean zoning law 
• MN: West Lakeland Township to review CUP for a solar facility in Washington
• MN: Hugo City Council reviewed solar farm ordinance amendments
• NM: McKinley County to review and adopt Industrial Revenue Ordinances for Maosi Solar and Storage Project
• NY: Veteran Town Board adopts law regulating residential battery storage
• NY: Yorktown Conservation Board reviews battery energy storage amendment
• NY: Clifton Park adopts moratorium on battery energy storage systems
• PA: Carbon County Planning Commission to conduct technical documentation review for Mora Solar Park Project
• PA: Pocono Township Planning to discuss Phase B revision of the Swiftwater Solar Project
• TX: Community outrage grows over new Gillespie County battery storage project
• UT: Emery County to adopt second amendments for DESRI's Hornshadow Solar Project
• VA: Greene County Planning Commission to review data center and solar panel ordinance revisions

Just in time for Easter, Dutch engineers have accomplished a resurrection – in this case, of what Interesting Engineering calls a “dead” (we prefer “decommissioned”) wind turbine blade.

The – ahem – decommissioned blade was used as the support structure for a 3D-printed modular bridge. Poly Products, a company based in the Netherlands, has installed the bridge as part of a larger project led by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.

The completed bridge spans about 39 feet, is about 10 feet wide, and can support loads of up to 5 tons. After testing the blade and reinforcing any weak points, the production team used large-format 3D printing to connect it to the modular deck and handrail, which are also made from recycled materials.

The company says the bridge’s design is financially viable and that “talks are underway for more installations using the same design.” That’s a bridge we’d be happy to buy.