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Good morning and happy Friday,
If you thought this week seemed toastier than usual, you weren’t wrong – and as temperatures soared, the EIA said the U.S. hit a new national record for electricity consumption on July 28. Many parts of the country were under heat advisories and extreme heat warnings, threatening human health and straining the grid.
Scientists say there’s a direct link between increasing greenhouse gas emissions and severe heat, but on his first day in office, President Trump issued an executive order directing EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to determine “the legality and continuing applicability” of the endangerment finding, a 2009 declaration that says GHG pollution poses a threat to human health.
This week, Zeldin released a plan to dismantle the finding (here’s a fact check of some of his claims), adding to the turmoil in the energy sector and prompting Dems to dig in their heels and vow to fight back. The initiative will likely face “significant legal pushback,” and which side prevails will ultimately hinge on the courts.
And on Tuesday the Interior Department issued an order curbing “preferential treatment” for wind energy and said it is considering additional hurdles for on- and offshore wind projects; on Thursday, the BOEM rescinded all designated “Wind Energy Areas” on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf.
Meanwhile, as the U.S. retreats on climate, China and Europe “promised new efforts to cut emissions” as China positions itself as “the world’s one-stop shop for clean energy technologies.”
Read on for more.
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That Personal Touch
July brought a lot of changes to the U.S. clean energy industry. Most were packaged in the OBBB, but the administration has introduced additional requirements that increase the burden on renewable developers. One that merits closer scrutiny is the July 15 Interior Department memo stating that Secretary Burgum must personally approve all wind and solar projects. Here are some key points:
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In total, at least 68 types of agency actions now have to be reviewed by the Secretary, “instead of by lower-level agency staff.” Industry observers expect the sweeping nature of the directive will “create bottlenecks and delays for a significant number of renewable energy projects.”
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Broadly speaking, the industry believes that wind and solar have been unfairly singled out for political reasons; it’s particularly concerning given that it will likely hamstring projects that need to get underway ASAP to qualify for tax incentives that are now on a dramatically compressed timeline.
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The director of Columbia’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law characterized the new guidance as “yet another knife in the back of the transition to clean energy.” SEIA said that “At a time when energy demand is skyrocketing, adding more layers of bureaucracy and red tape for energy projects…is exactly the wrong approach.”
⚡️ The Takeaway
A bewildering departure. In response to Interior’s announcement, ACP CEO Jason Grumet issued a statement calling the memo “a bewildering departure from the Administration’s promise to bring down energy prices and make America competitive in the race against China for AI and data centers” and noting that the move “isn’t oversight. It’s obstruction that will needlessly harm the fastest growing sources of electric power.” Combined with the additional hurdles to wind development announced this week, these actions make for some strong headwinds for the industry.
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A Pain in the Thumb
Enacted in 2023, Michigan’s Public Act 233 set a goal of reaching 80% clean power by 2035. The state’s biggest utility, DTE, is working toward that, but ran into an issue in St. Clair County, which sits in the southeast portion of the Thumb: highly restrictive regulations for large-scale solar projects. DTE has filed a lawsuit against the county’s board of commissioners and the county’s health department. Here’s a closer look:
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On May 1, St. Clair County passed regulations limiting noise levels at non-participating property lines to 45 decibels, stricter than the 55-decibel cap established under PA 233; further, tonal noise is prohibited. In addition, solar and battery facilities are required to obtain approval from the Health Department prior to construction.
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The central thrust of DTE’s lawsuit is that the regulations are illegal and violate PA 233. Notably, PA 233 gives developers thwarted by local rules the ability to petition the Michigan PSC for redress, and allows the PSC to oversee permitting if local ordinances don’t meet its standards.
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More specifically, the lawsuit “argues the Health Department lacks authority to regulate land use, a power reserved for counties, townships, cities, or villages under the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act. Since all St. Clair County townships have their own zoning ordinances, DTE says the county cannot impose additional rules.”
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Michigan can be tough sledding for developers; the latest Sabin Center report found 62 local governments with restrictions – the highest of any state – and 28 contested projects in 2024, a fact at odds with polling data that says 73% of Mitten State voters want to make it easier to approve clean energy projects.
⚡️ The Takeaway
Stay tuned. The inverters and substation transformers in solar projects do generate some low-frequency noise; typically this is addressed by designing the project so that these components are sited at adequate distances from property lines. Nevertheless, the claims in the county’s regulations – which assert that solar installations create noise and visual pollution that constitute a threat to human health because they can “‘significantly contribute to stress levels in individuals’” and can be “linked to increased levels of anxiety and development of depressive symptoms” – seem a bit over the top. DTE is seeking a court order that declares the county’s regulations invalid and unenforceable; a hearing is expected later this year.
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Samuel L. Gives the Middle F.
In a newly released video, Samuel L. Jackson touts wind power – and tasty snacks – as part of a campaign launched by Swedish energy giant Vattenfall.
As he stands on a rocky coastline, Jackson looks at offshore turbines in the distance and first says “Motherf***ing wind farms: Loud. Ugly. Harmful to nature.” before asking “Who says that?” He then goes on to proclaim that “These giants are standing tall against fossil fuels. Rising out of the ocean like a middle finger to CO2!”
Next, he says that beneath the waves, the turbines’ foundations “can become artificial reefs, creating habitats for sea life to grow.” Producing a crispy green chip from the bag in his hands, he explains that it was made with seaweed grown at a Vattenfall wind farm, chomping approvingly before deeming it “serious gourmet sh*t.”
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It turns out Jackson “studied marine biology before switching to acting,” and retains a “passion for marine life and would like to be involved in challenging people's perceptions of what a wind farm can represent.” The only sad note for snack fans is that the seaweed crisps are a limited edition and aren’t commercially available.
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Thanks for diving into the Developer Dispatch with us.
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Building American power requires a powerful team. |
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