WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Wednesday, readers! The Environmental Protection Agency’s hunt for climate “gold bars” continues, as a federal judge heard arguments from climate groups calling on the court to release the money awarded by the Biden administration.

A massive wind project off the coast of New Jersey remains on hold as one developer revealed to the Daily on Energy team this week that they still don’t have a manufacturer for their vital turbine blades. 

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Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner energy and environment writers Callie Patteson (@CalliePatteson) and Maydeen Merino (@MaydeenMerino). Email cpatteson@washingtonexaminer dot com or mmerino@washingtonexaminer dot com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.

GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION FUND COURT HEARING: Climate groups argued in federal court today that the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to terminate $20 billion in grant money are unlawful and could lead to irreparable harm for the recipients. 

What is being argued in court? For weeks, the EPA has frozen and sought to terminate $20 billion in grant money from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Three of the nonprofit organizations that received grant money have sued the agency: Climate United, Coalition for Green Capital, and Power Forward Communities.

The nonprofits today claimed that the agency’s efforts to terminate the funds are “unlawful.” The EPA “has a right to manage its own grants, of course, but they must do so within the means and bounds of the law,” one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys said.

The groups also raised concerns about the continued delay and termination of the funds is causing irreparable harm to the groups. An attorney for the Coalition for Green Capital warned that the group could go out of business without the granted funding. 

The plaintiffs added without the granted money, the groups will not be able to fund projects, which include those consistent with the Inflation Reduction Act. The three organizations under the program were awarded grant money to help fund climate projects in low-income communities. 

“We depend on our reputation. We are a financial institution. We can be a reliable lender. We don’t have funds that are very damaging to our reputation,” one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys said.

EPA CLAIMS: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has claimed the previous administration had improperly distributed the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund by routing the money through Citibank to avoid oversight. 

Zeldin has called the funds “gold bars,” referencing a video from last year in which a former EPA employee said the Biden administration was trying to distribute the promised funds before the new administration. 

NEW JERSEY OFFSHORE WIND PROJECT STILL FACING MANUFACTURING SNAFU: Progress on an offshore wind project off the coast of New Jersey remains halted as one of its developers confirmed this week that it is still missing a supplier for the turbines’ necessary blades. 

The details: On the sidelines of this week’s SAFE summit, Invenergy CEO and co-founder Jim Murphy spoke with Callie about the status of the Leading Light Wind project. Alongside co-developer energyRe, Invenergy is seeking to build an offshore wind farm made up of 100 turbines around 40 miles off Long Beach Island, generating enough power for up to 1 million homes. 

But the project has been facing delays since September of last year as the developers have struggled to secure a manufacturer. Murphy confirmed yesterday that the company still does not have a manufacturer that will supply the turbine blades. 

“Given the status of the Trump administration’s views in particular on offshore wind, we’re in a holding pattern,” Murphy said. He pointed to President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting the offshore and onshore wind industry issued on his first day in office. This order blocked all lease sales for offshore wind projects and paused any new approvals, permits, leases, or loans for wind projects both on and offshore.

Murphy said the industry is still wanting to better understand the intent behind the memorandum, adding that he believes additional information on the enforcement of the order is “forthcoming.” 

Some background: The first delay of the Leading Light Wind project was approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities in September, allowing Invenergy to find a suitable supplier after months of difficulties. GE Vernova, one of the top turbine manufacturers in the world, said last year that it would not announce the turbines developers planned to use. Manufacturer Vestas was also not deemed suitable to partner with, while Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy said it would be increasing its prices. That original delay ended on Dec. 20. One day prior to the deadline, the board of public utilities was again asked to approve a delay through May 20, 2025. 

PENNSYLVANIA’S ONCE LARGEST OPERATING COAL PLANT TAKEN DOWN FOR AI DEVELOPMENT: The site of what was once the largest operating coal-fired power plant in Pennsylvania is now being redeveloped to support a massive artificial intelligence data center campus, powered by what is said to be the largest natural gas power plant in the country. 

The details: Homer City, Pennsylvania – just over 50 miles east of Pittsburgh – is set to become home to a more than 3,200-acre natural gas powered data center campus, with energy pumping into the project and grid within the next two years. With seven gas-fired turbines provided by GE Vernova, the plant is expected to generate as much as 4.5 gigawatts of energy. This is more than double the capacity of the coal-powered facility that closed in 2023. 

The demolition of the coal plant began last month as the site’s owner, Homer City Redevelopment, imploded its cooling towers and three out of four of the facility’s stacks. The rest of the facility is expected to come down over the next couple of weeks, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

About the site: The new facility, which will be named the Homer City Energy Campus, is set to be built by Kiewit Power Constructors Co. The plant is expected to start producing power by 2027, a much faster turnaround than other new natural gas projects starting from scratch. As the companies are building atop the former coal plant, they are able to utilize existing infrastructure like transmission lines connecting to regional transmission operator PJM and the New York Independent System Operator. This will allow the massive gas plant to pump power directly to consumers across 13 states and Washington D.C. 

The project is expected to cost more than $10 billion, without including the costs necessary for building the AI data centers expected to be built on the same campus. It remains unclear if these data centers will be able to purchase power behind the meter as federal regulators are considering future rules on those types of co-location arrangements. 

PACIFIC SEABIRDS UNDER THREAT BY SPACEX PROJECT: Biologists are now warning that more than a million protected seabirds could be under threat from a project spearheaded by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the U.S. Air Force to test hypersonic rocket activities. 

The details: SpaceX and the Air Force are planning to use the remote Johnston Atoll, nearly 800 miles southwest of Hawaii, to test its Rocket Cargo Vanguard program. The atoll is made up of four islands, two of which (Johnston and Sand) were designated as federal bird refuges in 1926, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The atoll is also a part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. 

Roughly a million tropical birds, made up of 14 different species, inhabit the small remote atoll. Researchers and biologists are sounding the alarm that the current and future population of these species are all at risk with the planned project. 

Biologist Ryan Rash, who spent several months on the atoll, told Reuters that the biggest problem the wildlife will face is the sound of rockets. He warned this could flush birds out of their nests and prevent them from returning to the region. 

“The nests and the birds there are just going to be kind of vaporized,” Fish and Wildlife Service volunteer and photographer Eric Baker told the outlet. 

The rocket project: The Air Force and SpaceX are looking to test landing hypersonic rockets capable of delivering 100 tons of cargo. These rockets have reportedly been designed to deliver this heavy cargo within 90 minutes anywhere across the planet. To test their capabilities, the project will involve building two rocket landing pads on Johnston Island. Project leaders are looking to have it operational sometime this year, but must still complete an environmental impact assessment as required under the National Environmental Policy Act. 

TESLA Q1 SALES DROP: Tesla sales dropped 13% in the first quarter compared to last year, CNBC reports. 

Tesla delivered 336,681 vehicles and produced 362,615. Tesla’s sales report comes as China’s electric vehicle BYD announced yesterday that its sales were up 58% in the first quarter compared to last year. 

BYD is one of Tesla’s rivals. But the Chinese company has continued to surpass Tesla in sales as it releases more affordable and innovative vehicles. 

RENEWABLE POWER GOING TO WASTE IN CHINA: Renewable energy developers in China were forced to curtail wind and solar power output earlier this year, as the country saw record installations on its grid. 

The details: In January and February, the country was forced to curtail around 6.2% of wind power and 6.1% of solar power, letting that energy go to waste, according to Bloomberg. During the same time period last year, only around 4% of both wind and solar was curtailed. 

China saw its renewable energy capacity soar in 2024, installing roughly 277 gigawatts of solar and 80 gigawatts of wind capacity to its grid. While this record pace has allowed China to hit its renewable goals several years early, the country is expected to see the pace slow as its grid infrastructure has yet to catch up. 

In the first two months of the year, three regions and provinces in China were forced to curtail wind by more than 10%. Tibet reportedly saw the highest levels of rollbacks, curtailing around 27.5% of wind power and 32.2% of solar energy, according to Bloomberg. 

The country will likely be forced again to limit the amount of solar and wind generated power flowing onto its grid throughout this year, as grid operators look to increase investments in battery storage technologies and transmission lines. 

RUNDOWN

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