Good morning and happy Friday, 

The world said goodbye to Pope Francis, the first climate pope, this week. The 266th pontiff “championed environmental protection” and “framed climate change as an urgent spiritual issue.”

Environmental advocacy groups and climate non-profits braced for the worst amid rumors of an Earth Day strike at their tax-exempt status, but the White House said they weren’t being targeted.

As companies reported their first-quarter results, tariffs dominated clean energy earnings calls. Tesla had a dismal Q1 that was “rescued by a lucrative side hustle” – energy storage – but tariffs could have an outsized impact on that part of the business.

Meanwhile, Heatmap reports that all eyes are on Texas as anti-renewables bills advance, “despite a large number of landowners and ranchers testifying against” one of the bills.

Lastly, signaling a major shift in energy politics, wind, solar, and battery storage have overtaken natural gas as the nation’s “bridge fuel,” says NextEra Energy CEO John Ketchum.

Read on for more.

In a guest blog post this week, Brian Cashion, director of engineering at Firetrace International, writes that focusing on the impact of tariffs on energy storage “distracts from the bigger elephant in the room” – community opposition – and that public pushback presents the greatest threat to the burgeoning BESS market. Here’s an overview:

• Mr. Cashion argues that the BESS industry should focus “on addressing local push back, tackling misconceptions around [the technology’s] impressive safety record, and educating citizens on the benefits of BESS.” 
• Specifically, he advocates for proactively consulting local planning authorities and fire services on site design and “engaging local communities from the outset,” with a particular focus on explaining the benefits of BESS and safety protocols, especially related to fire risk.
• On that point, however, he notes that EPRI’s 2024 white paper on BESS failure incidents found that between 2018-2023, “BESS failure incidents dropped by a whopping 97%.” That equates to “one fire in every 35 GW of batteries installed,” making such incidents quite rare.

Demographics are not destiny. It can be tempting to think that support or opposition to clean energy cleaves along party lines, but many parts of the country illustrate that this isn’t always the case. A drive across Iowa means passing countless farms with “Trump signs and wind turbines,” and most residents embrace the massive economic benefits wind energy brings to their state. As the BESS sector contends with rising scrutiny, now is the time to double down on communications strategies that center safety, reliability, and local value—before misinformation fills the vacuum.

Interconnection queue reform is a hot topic for clean energy developers. In February, FERC’s approval of PJM’s Reliability Resource Initiative raised the ire of some in the industry, and now a similar situation is unfolding in MISO, where a recent proposal was supported by incumbent utilities but panned by the clean energy crowd – here’s why:

• MISO’s proposal would “allow power plant owners to interconnect to the grid at a different location when they replace a retiring generator” as long as it can be demonstrated that “the new interconnection point is ‘electrically equivalent’ to the original point and that the change will not harm the grid operator’s transmission system.”
• Several utilities commented in favor of this idea, saying it could “support a wide variety of resource types” and would be more cost-efficient, “potentially by preventing redundant high voltage lines from being built.” 
• Clean energy trade groups disagreed, saying the proposal “would result in an unjust, unreasonable and unduly discriminatory interconnection process that is inconsistent with FERC precedent.” 

No cutting the line. The clean energy camp’s central argument is that MISO’s proposal “would effectively allow incumbent generators to jump ahead in interconnection queues, likely driving up network upgrade costs to other interconnection customers by taking up transmission capacity they had expected to use,” adding that “substitute points of interconnection” shouldn’t necessarily get a pass on the rigorous impact studies other interconnection customers are required to perform.

• Squeeze Play: U.S. needs more power for AI – but critical equipment is pricey and scarce 
• Threading the Needle: Why one major solar developer isn’t worried about tariffs 
• Make Solar, Not War: US manufacturers don't have time for a trade war and tax credit uncertainty 
• Tariff Troubles: Solar could lose its cost advantage over gas  
• Big Numbers: Commerce finalizes tariff rates on solar imports from Southeast Asia
• 28 Days: Interior moves to fast-track energy projects  
• A Dream Deferred: A fading coal town banked on a wind-power boom. Then came Trump.  
• Stay the Course: China's action on climate change will not slow despite global political changes, Xi says 
• Free Willie, the Sequel: Phillips’ departure tees up FERC Republican majority and Phillips exits FERC, leaving a seat for Trump to fill  
• Feeling Stressed: Rising utility bills have Americans worried 
• Budget Season: ‘There’s no good answers’: State lawmakers on climate policy under Trump 
• Big Thaw?: Gargantuan solar project in Nevada appears to be moving forward 
• Preppers: U.S. solar’s hoarding habit will help blunt sting from tariffs
• Skate to the Puck: Solar recycling startup looks to build $90M facility in Florida and SolarCycle recycles nearly half a million solar panels in 2024 
• Teflon for Solar: Chemitek releases anti-soiling solar panel coating guaranteed to stay on for full year 
• Pony Up: Oregon House passes bill making large data centers pay for power grid costs 
• It’s a Secret: Interior won’t release evidence for blocked NY wind farm 
• Shaky Ground: Quest to retake $20B in climate money puts agencies at ‘significant’ risk, attorney warned 
• Siting Solutions Spotlight: Pennsylvania’s RESET Board and clean energy future 
• Cough, Hack: Almost half of Americans breathe unhealthy air, report finds 
• Double Take: A tale of two legislative bills in Colorado
• Cos Play?: What do Comic-Con, the Tour de France, and ACP’s Siting and Permitting Conference have in common?

• AZ: Yavapai Board of Supervisors considers permit for wind energy site assessment
• CA: Imperial County considers a zone change request for a solar project
• CO: Enfinity Global seeks CUP for its Vega Solar + Storage Project in Adams County
• GA: Candler County Commissioners discuss solar ordinance updates
• ID: Savion provides information on soil erosion through its Powers Butte Solar Project
• IL: Marion County board discuss solar and wind ordinance
• IL: Champaign County Board to consider special use permit for large scale solar project by BayWa
• IL: Diamond Village Board vote on solar and wind energy moratorium amendment
• IN: Jefferson county plan commission to review solar ordinance
• IA: Lee County review ordinances for solar, wind and storage
• MA: Boxford town discusses new bylaws to regulate BESS facilities
• OH: Ohio Power Siting Board rejects Samsung's Stark Solar Project
• PA: Apex presents preliminary plan for its Swiftwater Solar Project in Monroe County
• PA: Fayette County discusses utility scale solar facilities ordinance
• WA: Puget Sound Energy requests modification for Lower Snake River Wind Farm
• WI: Jefferson County to review Monthly Financial Report for different solar projects
• WI: Marathon County Board of supervisors review ordinances
• WY: Power Company of Wyoming seeks amendment of Road Use Agreement for Sierra Madre/Chokecherry Wind projects

Back at the end of January, we told you about how China's Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), also known as the "artificial sun,” set a new record for nuclear fusion. This week we have news from the Middle Kingdom about a different kind of reactor: one that uses thorium as the radioactive fuel source.

“Egads!” you may be thinking: “Wasn’t there something about this technology in declassified U.S. documents?” Correctamundo! “In the 1960s, American researchers built and tested early molten salt reactors, but…eventually shelved the program in favor of uranium-based technology,” leaving the research available to the public. But we digress.

Chinese scientists began building a 2 MW thorium molten salt reactor in the Gobi Desert in 2018, and it began operating in 2024. This is a big deal, because “experts have long viewed thorium reactors as the next leap in energy innovation.” In fact, “some scientists estimate that a single thorium-rich mine in Inner Mongolia could theoretically supply China’s energy needs for tens of thousands of years.”

Earlier this month it was revealed that the scientists had achieved a major breakthrough in that they were able to load fresh fuel into the reactor while it was operating. The feat prompted the project’s lead scientist to opine that China “now lead(s) the global frontier” in the technology.

The next step is already underway – a 10 MW thorium molten salt reactor that is scheduled to reach criticality by 2030. Researchers are also exploring the potential for thorium to serve as an emission-free source of power for ships. Pass the molten salt.