Trump's crackdown against solar companies linked to China stalls U.S. manufacturing boom
Solar companies, banks, and insurers stopped doing business at least half a dozen newly built U.S. panels factories due to uncertainty about whether their ties to China would disqualify them for clean-energy subsidies. Industry executives and documents examined by have confirmed this. This shift is a result of new policies from the Trump administration and threatens to undermine more than one-third of U.S. capacity for solar panels in factories originally built by Chinese companies. The…
Source: Japan considers summer energy subsidies of $3.1 billion as costs increase
Sources with direct knowledge said that the Japanese government was considering renewing its subsidies for electricity and natural gas starting in July for three months. This is because it expects to face higher energy costs due to conflict in the Middle East. Source who refused to be named as it is a 'private matter' said that the subsidies could cover the period from July to September. The budget for the subsidy would probably reach 500 billion yen (about $3 billion). Source: The government will tap reserves for the time being, rather than compiling an?additional budget.
Tesla executives announce that the company is expanding its solar strategy to include more employees.
According to senior executives, Tesla is currently hiring to help support Elon Musk’s plan to become the largest U.S. manufacturer for solar energy components. The posts indicate that 'the company is implementing Musk's vision to set up 100 gigawatts domestic solar production. Musk announced this goal?last?month. Seth Winger wrote, "This is a bold, ambitious project," in one of many posts made by Tesla executives on LinkedIn. We need ambitious, audacious engineers and scientists who can help us scale up to a massive scale.
Tesla executives are hiring to support Musk’s solar expansion strategy
According to senior executives, Tesla is currently hiring to support Elon Musk’s recent announcement to become the largest U.S. producer of solar energy components. The posts indicate that 'the company is implementing Musk's vision to set up 100 gigawatts domestic solar production. Musk announced this goal?last? month. Seth Winger is Tesla's senior manager of solar product engineering. He wrote this in a LinkedIn post. We need ambitious, audacious engineers and scientists who can help us scale up massively.
US rooftop solar installers restructure, cut jobs as homeowner subsidies expire
Residential solar companies in the U.S. are preparing to see a sharp drop in their business after the expiration?of a federal tax credit which helped fuel more than a decade's rapid growth. This has led to layoffs, reorganizations and even some company failures. Under President Donald Trump's new tax reform, the 30% federal income tax credits for homeowners who buy rooftop systems will expire at the end 2025. This has led to the most labor intensive segment of the solar sector contracting sharply…
WTO panel supports China in its case against US clean-energy subsidies
The World Trade Organization panel backed China's complaint on Friday, and recommended changes to the?U.S. Beijing claimed that tax credits for clean-energy?discriminated against imports. The report of the panel recommended that the United States remove the Inflation Reduction Act measures by October 1, 2026. The panel stated that "that date seems to be a reasonable deadline" for the withdrawal of the ITC/PTC Bonus Credits. The 'office of the U.S. Washington can appeal the ruling, but the WTO top appeals court will not issue a final decision as it is paralyzed.
Can West Virginia be green when Trump supports coal mining?
He is a member of Economic Development Greater East, an initiative that promotes projects in a region devastated by the decline in coal production. He said he was a fourth-generation coal miner who had moved from one mining job to another in the past. He met EDGE's founder Jason Tart when he returned to Berwind and with their support, he opened a chicken business. Startups and non-profits, like EDGE, have taken on projects aimed at clean energy and land reclamation. But Donald Trump wants the coal industry to be revived…
The FCA of the UK is investigating energy company Drax for its disclosures about biomass sources
The UK's financial watchdog has launched an investigation into Drax Group's disclosures about the biomass it sources, following a previous investigation conducted by the energy regulator of the country. This sent its shares plummeting more than 12% in Thursday's trading. Ofgem fined Drax 25 million pounds ($33.77m) for reporting incorrect data about wood from Canadian forests. Drax supplies around 5% of Britain’s electricity through biomass-converted plants, and has received billions in green energy subsidies. Drax has been criticized by environmental groups for sourcing wood from Canadian forest.
Trump's tax rules benefit clean energy investors
The shares of U.S. companies that produce solar energy rose Monday, after the Trump Administration released new rules on clean energy subsidies. These were less strict than many investors had expected. The Treasury Department narrowed its definition of what constitutes a solar or a wind project as being under construction. This is a requirement for qualifying for federal tax credits that are worth 30% of the project's costs. Changes include requiring that developers of large solar arrays or wind farms complete actual work, rather than just proving they've invested capital.
NextEra CEO: Renewables are needed to bridge the gap between expanding gas power and increasing renewables
NextEra CEO John Ketchum said on Tuesday that renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power will be needed to meet the rapidly increasing energy demand in America, despite near-term challenges to increasing natural gas capacities. At the Politico Energy Summit, the head of Florida's power producer stated that the high cost to acquire gas turbines and a shortage in construction workers, along with the tariff costs, will make it take seven years or more to bring new gas-fired plants online. Ketchum stated that "we need a bridge in order to get to 2032, when the gas will be available...
Sunnova Energy files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
Sunnova Energy announced on Sunday that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States. The residential solar panel installer is struggling with a huge debt pile and slow demand. Sunnova, a company that is restructuring its debts, warned in March it might not be able continue to operate as a business. According to a filing in court, the company's estimated assets and liabilities ranged from $10 billion to $50 million. Sunnova announced last week that it would cut about 55%, or 718, of its workforce in an effort to reduce spending.
Spain pays first arbitral award in long-running dispute over renewable subsidies
A spokesperson for the Energy Ministry said that on Thursday, the Spanish government had agreed to pay 37 million dollars to an American fund in order to settle a dispute over renewable energy subsidies which were reduced more than a decade earlier. After the conservative government of Spain cut renewable subsidies in 2013, to reduce an artificially low power tariff deficit that had been built up over years, foreign investors, mainly investment funds, filed a lawsuit against Spain. Blasket renewable investments, a U.S.-based fund, had acquired rights to the award.
NYT reports that US EPA wants the greenhouse gas limitations on power plants to be removed.
New York Times, citing agency documents, reported that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had drafted a proposal to eliminate all restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions from coal- and gasfired power stations in the United States. According to a NYT report, the EPA argued that greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide from power plants burning fossil fuels do not "contribute significantly" to dangerous pollution or climate change. This is because these emissions are a small part of global emissions and they are declining.
Reports of Trump's executive orders to boost the nuclear industry have led to a surge in stocks
The shares of nuclear power companies soared in premarket trade after a report that U.S. president Donald Trump will sign executive orders to jumpstart this industry as soon as Friday. Trump will streamline the regulatory processes for new reactor approvals, and improve fuel supply chains. This was reported by four sources who are familiar with the issue. After nearly two decades of stagnation, the U.S. electricity consumption will reach record levels in 2025 or 2026 as data centers devoted to AI and crypto mining plug into the grid.
Wall Street stocks finish flat after choppy trading, as Treasury yields decrease
U.S. stock prices finished Thursday little changed, erasing an initial decline, as Treasury yields eased from recent highs following the House of Representatives' passage of President Donald Trump’s tax and spending plan. Stocks were under pressure on Thursday as longer-dated Treasury yields dropped, which allowed stocks to breathe. After reaching its highest level since February, the benchmark U.S. 10 year note yield dropped 5.4 basis points to 4,543%. The Republican-controlled House voted by a slim margin to pass the bill…
NextEra exceeds profit expectations as the power company avoids trade risks
NextEra Energy's CEO stated that the company beat Wall Street expectations on Wednesday regarding rising electricity demand, as it works to navigate around increasing global trade risks. The rising costs brought on by President Donald Trump’s tariff war threaten to slow down a recent surge of electricity demand, and dent plans for expansion by the country’s power companies. NextEra, one of the largest renewable energy firms in the world, has said that it reduced its trade risk by $150 million, on $75 billion of capital expenditures. This is less than 0.2%.
The EU Commission has told Spain that it will not pay in a long-running case of renewable subsidies
The European Commission gave Spain a win on Monday when it told the country that they would not be paying any compensation for claims in the billions of Euros for renewable energy subsidies cut over a decade earlier. After the conservative government of Spain cut renewables subsidies to reduce an artificially low power tariff deficit that had been built up over years, foreign investors, mainly investment funds, filed a lawsuit against Spain. In 2018, French infrastructure-focused private…
China will roll back clean energy subsidies after boom
China's top economic planner said on Sunday that it is taking steps to reduce subsidies for renewable energy after an explosion in solar and wind installations. China has surpassed its own record for solar installations by 45% in 2024. China has installed more than 6 times as much solar power in China today, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. China's rapid installation of clean energy has allowed it to reach its 2030 goal six years earlier than expected. This is a…
Harris' energy strategy is ambiguous from a strategic perspective, say her aides
Since Vice President Kamala Harris joined the White House race 25 days ago, she has been keeping energy executives on their toes. Was she the anti-pollution and climate change warrior Attorney General of California? Or was she the pragmatic number two in the Democratic Biden Administration that oversaw record U.S. production and exports of oil? Seven times in her speeches, she mentioned climate, but never energy, fracking, or oil. Polls indicate that climate change is a topic of great interest, particularly among younger voters. Her campaign is aimed at avoiding alienating any side.
Vattenfall Wins Danish Wind Farm Tender, but Project Still in Doubt
Swedish utility Vattenfall won a tender on Monday to build two offshore wind farms for Denmark, but could yet have the project pulled by a government worried about the cost of renewable energy subsidies. The winning bid was to produce power from two wind farms off the west coast of Denmark, called Vesterhav Nord and Vesterhav Syd, for 0.475 Danish crowns ($0.0716) per kilowatt-hour (kWh). But with wholesale power prices currently well below that level - around 0.22 crowns per kWh - that would mean taxpayers making up the difference in subsidies.