5 days ago
Trump's cuts spur a scramble for expiring energy credits
In case you haven't noticed the messaging ads from environmental groups, plenty of analysts project that the new Republican megalaw will increase electricity prices by slashing low-cost renewables.
The law could also make it harder for homeowners and businesses to reduce their own power use to avoid potential bill increases.
The cuts are spurring anxiety in communities that were already looking at big jumps in their electricity costs — including the presidential swing state of Arizona.
Kilowatts vs. food Take Shirley Ross, who spoke to me for a story focused on the megalaw's potential cost effects in the sun-baked desert state. When she and her husband moved to an unincorporated community in the state's southeast, they saw an ad for a nonprofit promising to reduce their power bills.
The group gave them direct financial support and funded efficiency upgrades. Leaky windows were sealed, the air conditioning was replaced and a decades-old avocado green refrigerator was swapped out. Ross' electricity bills have doubled in the 15 years since they moved in, but she says they'd be much higher without that early work.
'I know we wouldn't be eating as well as we do,' she said.
President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, however, phases out tax credits to cover similar upgrades. Credits of up to $1,200 on weatherization and insulation, for example, will expire at the end of this year, as will credits of up to $150 for a home energy audit. Incentives for solar panels, home battery system and electric panels will also run out early.
Bill backers say the cuts were necessary to avoid tax increases that would have further hurt households. The White House says it's working to lower energy costs elsewhere.
Democrats jump inBlue states are making hay, however. Climate Mayors and the U.S. Climate Alliance today launched a nationwide campaign to encourage Americans to take advantage of the credits before they expire, POLITICO's Zack Colman reported.
'We have a narrow window to get the word out and help our communities benefit from these proven, popular credits which are making clean energy more affordable and accessible across the country,' Climate Mayors chair and Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said in a statement.
Some states and utilities will continue to offer their own assistance to homeowners. After all, energy efficiency is a way to ease the looming power supply crunch. But advocates for low-income families say they're worried, especially when electricity prices are already rising faster than inflation.
Also of note: The federal LIHEAP utility assistance program has its own fund to weatherize homes. Trump's proposed budget would zero out LIHEAP, further scrambling the prospects for groups like the one that helped Ross.
Kelly McGown, who heads an Arizona nonprofit that distributes LIHEAP funds, said it's not the time to cut federal protections.
'We're putting families in a position where they're choosing between paying for electricity, food or housing with no backstop,' she said.
It's Thursday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Jason Plautz. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to jplautz@
Today in POLITICO Energy's podcast: Alex Guillén breaks down why the Trump administration is moving to cancel the $7 billion Solar for All program.
Power Centers
International Energy Agency under fireTrump officials are looking to replace the second-in-command at the International Energy Agency, in the latest sign of the administration's frustration with the Paris-based body, Brian Dabbs and Sara Schonhardt write.
Mary Warlick, a retired State Department official, is the administration's top target, according to multiple energy industry insiders and former U.S. officials. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and some Republicans have expressed frustration with the IEA's outlook that demand for oil will peak by the end of this decade. The White House has championed the use of fossil fuels.
'The product that the IEA produces is not generally accepted by everybody. It's just not,' said Mark Menezes, who was deputy Energy secretary during Trump's first term. 'And the political context has changed.'
California dreamingThe Trump administration is making plans to terminate the Inflation Reduction Act's Solar for All program as soon as this week. In California, almost none of the $250 million that California received from the program has made it out the door yet, Noah Baustin and Camille von Kaenel report.
Solar companies fear they're on the cusp of losing their best shot at setting up a thriving community solar program that would give renters and electricity customers who can't afford to put panels on their rooftops the chance to draw from nearby midsize solar installations.
Climate's information gapIn its first six months in office, the Trump administration 'has significantly altered the federal environmental information landscape,' according to a new report issued by the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative, a nonprofit research group.
One example, writes Robin Bravender, citing the report, is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In 2024, the United States experienced 27 weather and climate disasters that each topped $1 billion in damages, according to a NOAA website that maps costly disasters. That website won't be updated with this year's data.
The administration has moved quickly to torpedo environmental justice and climate work done by the prior administration. The day after Trump took office, the White House Council on Environmental Quality took down a screening tool aimed at funneling federal spending toward communities that faced high levels of pollution.
Outsourcing carbon goalsEuropean Union officials didn't examine the effects of a plan to pay poorer countries to cut pollution for the purpose of meeting Europe's climate targets, Karl Mathiesen and Zia Weise write.
European officials excluded the bloc's climate department when it crafted a European Commission proposal that includes the use of global carbon credits to meet the bloc's 2040 goals. Climate advocates have warned that the proposal could undermine the bloc's carbon trading system and emissions reduction goals.
In Other News
Coal cash: An Ohio law set to take effect next week ends the subsidies for two coal plants that have cost utility customers over $500 million.
Crowdsourcing power: Pacific Gas & Electric successfully tested a virtual power plant using the solar and batteries of 1,000 homes.
Subscriber Zone
A showcase of some of our best subscriber content.
A South Carolina judge dismissed the city of Charleston's lawsuit against fossil fuel companies over the effects of climate change.
Turkey will not help the European Union in its bid to end imports of Russian natural gas.
Energy Transfer announced plans to build a new $5.3 billion gas pipeline from West Texas to Arizona.
That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.
