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Good morning and happy Friday,
This week’s tariff turbulence comes in the form of a Court of International Trade ruling that blocked President Trump from using emergency powers to impose sweeping tariffs – only to have the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit pause that ruling, adding to the “confusion and uncertainty” surrounding the policy.
In Michigan, the 1,560 MW J.H. Campbell coal plant was slated for shutdown on May 31, but the DOE intervened and issued an emergency order keeping it open due to MISO outage concerns.
Last week the U.S. House passed its IRA-gutting budget; the focus is now on the Senate, and here are some folks to watch as the IRA fight picks up again. For its part, SEIA continues to sound the alarm on the hundreds of thousands of jobs and hundreds of billions in investment that will be erased if changes aren’t made; E2 puts the figures at $14 billion in cancelled projects and 10,000 jobs lost so far this year.
And, how’s this for irony: the same day the House passed its budget, the U.S. EIA released its latest data, which shows that renewables generated more than 25% of the nation’s electricity in Q1 2025, “and provided nearly one-third of total U.S. electrical generation in March specifically.” Meanwhile, ACP’s Q1 2025 report finds clean energy achieved its second-strongest first quarter on record, with 7.4 GW of new capacity representing $10 billion in domestic investment.
Read on for more.
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Getting to Yes
As we mentioned in last week’s coverage of the House budget, these days, conversations about clean energy aren’t about climate change – they’re increasingly focused on the financial benefits projects can generate. A timely new report commissioned by Clean Tomorrow examines policy mechanisms for sharing the economic benefits of clean energy projects with local communities. Here’s an overview:
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Community benefit agreements are the most positively received, with higher support across political affiliations and income levels—especially when benefits are locally controlled and clearly tied to community priorities.
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Local control and flexibility matter more than the size of the benefit. Mechanisms perceived as “one-size-fits-all” or developer-driven are far less effective than those shaped in partnership with local stakeholders.
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Public awareness is low, but interest is high. Many respondents were unaware of benefit mechanisms but expressed strong support once informed—suggesting that visibility and communication are critical.
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Tailoring matters. The report stresses that the right mechanism depends heavily on local context—what works in Ohio may not work in California.
⚡️ The Takeaway
Customization is key. There’s no silver bullet—only smart customization. The study finds that benefit mechanisms work best when they’re shaped by local context, not imposed from a template. Flexibility is essential: communities are far more likely to support projects when benefits reflect their specific priorities, needs, and values. The bottom line? Getting to “yes” means offering benefits that feel real, relevant, and community-driven—without tipping the economics of the project off balance.
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California’s Grid Glow-up
Clean energy developers with projects in and around California got some welcome news last week: the CAISO Board of Governors approved the ISO’s 2024-2025 transmission plan, recommending 31 infrastructure projects with an estimated $4.8 billion price tag over the next 10 to 15 years. For developers, this isn’t just a bureaucratic milestone—it’s a green light for growth. The plan aims to expand and reinforce California’s transmission grid to reliably support rapid load growth, accommodate the state’s clean energy targets, and meet increased electrification in homes, transportation, and industry. It’s a strong signal that the state is committed to backing up its ambitious climate goals with the infrastructure to match. Here’s a closer look at what the plan entails:
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California expects to need 76 GW of new energy capacity by 2039—driven by rising demand from EVs, AI, and electrification. Without action, household electricity bills could jump 15–40% by 2030, and some may even double by 2050, putting low-income residents at serious risk.
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The newly approved plan includes 31 infrastructure projects—28 of them focused on transmission—to help manage that future demand, especially in the Bay Area, where grid stress is expected to hit hardest.
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Among them are five reconductoring upgrades that use advanced grid-enhancing technologies to boost capacity without building new lines, making them faster and more cost-effective to implement.
⚡️ The Takeaway
Clearing the way for clean energy. CAISO’s 2024-2025 plan builds on its 2023-2024 Transmission Plan, which included 26 transmission projects intended to support approximately 72 GW of clean energy generation. Those projects are dearly needed, as recent EIA data indicates 93% of all curtailment in California in 2024 was for solar. One solution? Surplus interconnection, according to UC Berkeley researchers, who find that “California could nearly double generation capacity” by using it.
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Making Waves
Last week we told you about the abrupt turn of fortune for Empire Wind, which seemed doomed following an April 16 stop-work order from the administration. This prompted weeks of intense lobbying, and on May 19 the project’s developer, Equinor, announced it had received permission to move forward with construction.
In preparation for those activities, a massive semi-submersible crane vessel arrived in Rhode Island’s Narrangansett Bay this week. Named Thialf, the Dutch-flagged behemoth is the second-largest of her kind, and she’s plenty powerful: Thialf is 660 feet long, has a maximum height of 470 feet, and she can hoist a burly 14,200 metric tons (think about that the next time you hit the gym).
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Needless to say, her presence hasn’t gone unnoticed – she’s garnered plenty of attention from local media, residents, and tourists, and not all of it has been positive. Some wags have unflatteringly described her as the “death star.”
After “a short layoff for staging,” which includes a crew swap, the Thialf will make her way to her Empire Wind gig off the coast of Long Island. She’ll be used to “start the monopile installations” for the project’s 54 turbines, as well as to place the foundations. We wish her well.
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Building American power requires a powerful team. |
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