WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Tuesday, readers! In today’s edition of Daily on Energy, we dive right into the Trump administration’s plans to terminate the Solar for All program, which has aimed to support lower-income communities looking to install solar panels.
We are continuing to see the government unwind some of the massive layoffs seen earlier this year, with the National Weather Service hiring for more than 400 positions.
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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.
EPA MOVES TO AX SOLAR FOR ALL GRANTS: The Environmental Protection Agency is moving to cancel $7 billion in federal grants from the Solar for All program.
The EPA is drafting termination letters for the 60 grantees of the program, the New York Times reported. The Solar for All program is part of the Biden administration’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which was established as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The program helps lower-income communities install solar energy in their households.
The Greenhouse Gas Reduction included three programs: Solar for All, the National Clean Investment Fund and the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator.
A spokesperson for the EPA said in a statement to the Washington Examiner “With the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill, EPA is working to ensure Congressional intent is fully implemented in accordance with the law.”
Under President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, lawmakers repealed and rescinded unobligated funds from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Still, the move by the administration will likely bring legal challenges.
The EPA sought to cancel $20 billion in grants from the fund’s other two initiatives. The agency is currently undergoing a legal challenge brought by three of the funds’ grantees: Climate United, the Coalition for Green Capital, and Power Forward Communities.
Reactions: Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who authored the legislation to establish the grant program, told the Washington Examiner in a statement “I introduced the Solar for All program to slash electric bills for working families by up to 80% — putting money back in the pockets of ordinary Americans, not fossil fuel billionaires.”
“Now, Donald Trump wants to illegally kill this program to protect the obscene profits of his friends in the oil and gas industry. That is outrageous. Solar for All means lower utility bills, many thousands of good-paying jobs and real action to address the existential threat of climate change,” Sanders said.
“At a time when working families are getting crushed by skyrocketing energy costs and the planet is literally burning, sabotaging this program isn’t just wrong — it’s absolutely insane. We will fight back to preserve this enormously important program,” he added.
Read more by Maydeen here.
MAJOR OIL AND GAS DRILLER THROWS COLD WATER ON ‘DRILL, BABY, DRILL’: Diamondback Energy, the largest oil producer in the Permian Basin, has insisted that the shale industry won’t be able to “drill, baby, drill’ this year, as production levels likely have already peaked.
The details: In a letter issued to stockholders this week, CEO Kaes Van’t Hof pointed to both rig and drilling crew counts having declined this year while supply chain costs have risen.
“We continue to believe that, at current oil prices, U.S. shale oil production has likely peaked and activity levels in the Lower 48 will remain depressed,” the letter read, adding that current oil prices remain “unsustainable” for the industry in the long term.
Diamondback Energy itself dropped four active rigs during the second quarter of this year and anticipates that it will complete roughly 10 fewer wells than it previously estimated. Van’t Hof warned that a jump in crude production worldwide in the second half of 2025 could lead to a glut.
The warning comes just days after OPEC+ said it would be again accelerating its production hikes in September, pumping an additional 547,000 barrels per day into the market.
Where prices stand: Oil executives and others in the drilling industry have warned for months that dropping prices combined with high tariffs on products like steel would be unsustainable for increased production. In recent weeks, international and domestic benchmarks prices for crude have remained around the mid-$60s, occasionally jumping to the $70 per barrel line on fears of additional tariffs or geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
Just after 2:30 p.m. EST, Brent Crude was down by around 1.64% and was priced at $67.63 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate had similarly fallen 1.72% and was selling at $65.15 per barrel.
TOP RENEWABLES OFFICIAL CONFIDENT THERE WILL BE A SECOND WAVE FOR WIND: While the Trump administration has moved to stymie offshore wind and other renewable energy development, one industry executive is saying that interest in wind power from states and the federal government won’t fully go away.
The details: American Clean Power CEO Jason Grumet said that, due to the administration’s policies aimed at lengthening the permitting process for renewables, it is unlikely there will be any new offshore wind facilities that move forward in the next three and a half years – with the exception of the five major projects already under construction. However, Grumet told Callie that there will be a “second wave of offshore development” once the energy industry sees the consequences of ignoring the power source.
“I think that you are not going to see nearly the investment in new gas facilities that would be necessary to offset the loss of offshore wind because of high prices, difficulty in siting new facilities, and the inadequacy of the existing pipeline network,” Grumet said.
He admitted that offshore wind development costs have risen, due to inflation and increasing manufacturing costs driven by high tariffs. Those factors aren’t just limited to the wind industry though, he said. Grumet noted the high costs associated with extending operations of coal-fired power plants. One coal plant in Michigan, for example, is expected to cost an additional $29 million to stay open.
When those factors contend with rising energy prices and threaten reliability, Grumet said, “the logic of offshore wind will reassert itself.”
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE REHIRING POSITIONS CUT BY DOGE: The federal government is once again walking back job cuts driven by the Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to slash government spending, with the National Weather Service receiving permission to fill hundreds of positions.
The details: A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration official confirmed to CNN that NWS is moving to hire 450 meteorologists, hydrologists, and radar technicians. Roughly 126 of the openings are new positions that were previously approved and considered to be “front-line mission critical” personnel.
More than 500 NWS workers were cut by DOGE earlier this spring through both layoffs of probationary employees and early retirement incentives. This dropped the agency’s staffing levels to just under 4,000 people. The administration has been criticized for the cuts, with some Democrats suggesting that the staffing reduction has undermined the agency’s ability to forecast or aid in disaster response, as in the case of the deadly Texas floods in July.
The agency may rehire some of the previously dismissed staffers to the open positions, though some NOAA officials told CNN that the process to train and hire new workers will waste time and money when the government could have left individuals in their jobs in the first place.
U.S. CUSTOMERS RUSH TO BUY SOLAR: Utilities, solar developers, and other large customers are rushing to buy solar panels in order to still claim federal subsidies that are phasing out within the next two years.
Solar energy equipment supplier Anza Renewables told Semafor they are expecting to see the purchase frenzy last until mid-2026, after it started in June. During the last two months, Anza helped supply around 660 megawatts worth of solar panels to U.S. customers. This is more than the first five months of the year combined, which saw 620 megawatts worth of sales.
Key quote: “Everything has changed since late June,” Anza CEO Mike Hall told the outlet. “Companies are aggressively trying to hedge and protect their projects, and mainly that means you’ve got to buy your stuff early.”
Quick reminder: The One Big Beautiful Bill Act ended tax credits for wind and solar projects that are not in service – meaning online and pumping energy into the grid – by the end of 2027. The legislation did include a carve-out for projects that are able to start construction within one year of the bill being enacted.
‘FLY NUKES TO THE MOON’: The Trump administration confirmed today that it plans to fast-track a nuclear reactor to the moon to beat out China in the race to build settlements on the lunar surface and power missions to Mars.
The details: Transportation Secretary and Interim NASA administrator Sean Duffy revealed that the administration is looking to power U.S. lunar operations with both solar and nuclear power. The nuclear fission reactor is expected to have an output of 100 kilowatts, roughly the same amount of energy used by a 2,000 square foot home every three and a half days.
“We’re not talking about massive technology,” Duffy said. “We’re not launching this live…but again, energy is important. And if we’re going to be able to sustain life on the moon to then go to Mars, this technology is critically important.”
The administration is seeking proposals for the reactors within 60 days and plans to award two companies with contracts within six months. It is aiming to launch the reactor by 2030, around when China is hoping to put men on the moon.
AUSTRALIA CONSIDERS PRICE FLOOR TO BOOST CRITICAL MINERALS: Australia is working to establish itself as a dominant producer in the critical minerals and rare earth space.
Australian Resources Minister Madeleine King said the country is looking to set a price floor to support critical minerals and rare earth projects, Reuters reports. The move is aimed at boosting production in Australia, setting up the country as a key supplier for Western countries.
Australia announced it would provide $87 million to Trafigura unit Nyrstar’s metals processing operations. The U.S. has also taken a similar approach by making a multibillion dollar agreement last month with MP Materials, a rare earth producer.
“Pricing certainty means companies and investors are less exposed to volatile markets and prices, which are opaque and prone to manipulation,” King said in a statement.
Australia earlier this year also vowed $775 million to build a strategic critical mineral reserve.
“Mechanisms for an appropriate price floor are under active consideration,” King said. “The focus will be on creating national offtake agreements,” referring to purchase deals.
ICYMI – CHEMICAL COMPANIES PAY NEW JERSEY $875 MILLION OVER PFAS POLLUTION: Chemical companies Chemours, DuPont, and Corteva yesterday agreed to pay New Jersey $875 million over the next 25 years to settle a case over “forever chemical” pollution.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS are chemicals that are used in a wide range of consumer products and have been linked to health risks. The chemicals are also referred to as “forever chemicals” because they do not easily break down in the environment.
New Jersey officials are calling it the biggest environmental settlement ever won by a state, the New York Times reported.
The settlement requires the companies to fund the cleanup of four former industrial sites. The companies will also create a remediation fund of up to $1.2 billion and set $475 million aside to ensure cleanup will be complete if any companies go bankrupt.
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