Decision on all BIL/IRA Funds
U.S. Dist. Judge Mary McElroy, Federal Dist. Court of RI’s Order – applies nationwide to EPA, DOE, Interior, USDA, HHS & HUD (and OMB). The same theory could apply to Green Bank Funds (see third bullet below). A Green Bank litigation summary starts on page three.
Federal judge orders immediate thaw of climate, infrastructure funds – by Alex Guillén; April 15, 2025 – Politico – President Donald Trump does not have “unfettered power to hamstring in perpetuity” duly passed funding laws, the judge ruled. A federal judge ruled Tuesday that EPA, the Interior and Energy Departments and other agencies unlawfully froze funds under Democrats’ climate and infrastructure spending laws, ordering the agencies to immediately resume disbursing the money.
- The ruling from Judge Mary McElroy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, who was named to the bench by President Donald Trump in 2019, comes on the eve of an expected decision from another judge in Washington on whether EPA lawfully terminated $20 billion in climate grants. That case and other litigation are part of a complex web of lawsuits over frozen funds and terminated grants playing out in multiple courts.
- Notably, McElroy also dismissed the Trump administration’s arguments that she lacks jurisdiction to issue this order because these are contract disputes that by law would have to be heard by another court. Similar arguments have been raised by EPA in litigation over its canceled climate grants.
- But McElroy wrote that the nonprofits’ rights don’t stem from any contract with the government – they come from the laws passed by Congress. The groups are seeking to halt the government’s funding freeze, not get “money damages” for past harm done, she said.
US judge blocks Trump’s freeze on climate, infrastructure grants – By Nate Raymond – April 15, 2025 8:40 PM EDT – Reuters – A U.S. judge blocked President Donald Trump‘s administration on Tuesday from freezing billions of dollars in grants Congress authorized under climate investment and infrastructure laws of his Democratic predecessor, former President Joe Biden. U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy in Providence, Rhode Island, issued an injunction at the behest of environmental groups who argued the Trump administration was unlawfully freezing already-awarded funding for projects to combat climate change, reduce pollution and modernize U.S. infrastructure.
Judge orders federal agencies to release billions of dollars from two Biden-era initiatives by MICHAEL CASEY – April 15, 2025 at 5:36 PM EDT – Associated Press – BOSTON – A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to release billions of dollars meant to finance climate and infrastructure projects across the country.
- S. District Judge Mary McElroy, who was appointed by Donald Trump during his first term, sided with conservation and nonprofit groups and issued a preliminary injunction until she rules on the merits of the lawsuit. The injunction is nationwide.
- McElroy concluded that the seven nonprofits demonstrated that the freeze was “arbitrary and capricious” and that the powers asserted by the federal agencies, including the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, in halting the payouts were not found in federal law.
‘The government failed’: Trump-appointed judge rips his spending cuts in late-night ruling – On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump’s administration suffered a loss in court — this time, at the hands of one of his own appointed judges. Politico legal correspondent Kyle Cheney tweeted Tuesday that U.S. District Judge Mary S. McElroy, who Trump appointed to the District of Rhode Island in 2019, authored a ruling that overruled his funding freeze for multiple federal agencies. In her 63-page ruling, McElroy granted a preliminary injunction in favor of a coalition of nonprofit organizations suing the Trump administration allowing them to have their funding turned back on while litigation plays out.
Federal judge orders immediate thaw of climate, infrastructure funds By Alex Guillén – 04/15/2025 06:34 PM EDT – Politico – President Donald Trump does not have “unfettered power to hamstring in perpetuity” duly passed funding laws, the judge ruled. A federal judge ruled Tuesday that EPA, the Interior and Energy Departments and other agencies unlawfully froze funds under Democrats’ climate and infrastructure spending laws, ordering the agencies to immediately resume disbursing the money.
U.S. District Judge Mary S. McElroy’s Opinion and Order is HERE.
Agencies do not have unlimited authority to further the President’s agenda, nor do they have unfettered power to hamstring in perpetuity two statutes passed by Congress during the previous administration. Chief Justice Roberts put it best:
Justice Holmes famously wrote that “men must turn square corners when they deal with the Government.” But it is also true, particularly when so much is at stake, that the Government should turn square corners in dealing with the people. Id. at 24.
Here, the Government failed to do so.
Green Bank Litigation Order
U.S. Dist. Judge Tanya Chutkan (Federal Dist. Court of DC) ordered EPA & Citibank to unfreeze funds – “Citibank must disburse any funds properly incurred before the mid-February suspension of Plaintiffs’ funds.” However, this Order has already been “stayed.” Judge Chutkan’s Order follows (Opinion not yet released). The “stay” is described below.
CLIMATE UNITED FUND, Plaintiff, v. CITIBANK, N.A., et al., Order – April 15, 2025 — “EPA Defendants, and others in active concert or participation therewith, including officials at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, are ENJOINED from directly or indirectly impeding Defendant Citibank or from causing Defendant Citibank to deny, obstruct, delay, or otherwise limit access to funds in accounts established in connection with Plaintiffs’ grants, including funds in accounts established by Plaintiffs’ subgrantees.”
Release of E.P.A. Climate Grants Is Paused by New Court Ruling – By Claire Brown; April 17, 2025 – New York Times – Hours after a federal judge ordered Citibank to pay out as much as $625 million in federal climate grant money that had been frozen at the Trump administration’s request, an appeals court stayed the decision. The grant money was frozen again before any was sent to recipients.
- It amounted to at least a temporary setback for nonprofit recipients of $20 billion in funds that were appropriated by Congress through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
- The grants, which were part of the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and are sometimes called “Green Bank” funds, were finalized before the November election, then frozen in mid-February at the request of the Trump administration.
- Brooke Durham, a spokeswoman for Climate United, a nonprofit that had been awarded almost $7 billion and has sued the administration for access to the funds, said the organization plans to oppose the stay, in hopes of avoiding laying off employees because they can’t pay them.
Judge blocks Trump EPA from clawing back billions in Biden-era climate grants – by Ella Lee and Rachel Frazin – The Hill – April 16, 2025 – A federal judge on Wednesday indefinitely blocked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from clawing back billions of dollars in Biden-era climate grants. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said the EPA may not suspend or terminate the green grant awards nor limit access to those funds while a lawsuit challenging the effort to recoup the money moves forward.
- Judge Chutkan also ordered Citibank, which received the funds but refused to disburse them at the government’s request, to unfreeze the climate groups’ funds. However, Chutkan directed Citibank to refrain from releasing any funds until Thursday afternoon. After that, the groups will be able to use that money to finance climate-friendly projects. The administration has already appealed her decision, which she said would be explained in a forthcoming memorandum.
The EPA can’t end grants from $20 billion Biden-era fund for climate-friendly projects, a judge says – by MICHAEL PHILLIS – Associated Press – April 16, 2025 – A federal judge says some nonprofits awarded billions for a so-called green bank to finance clean energy and climate-friendly projects cannot have their contracts scrapped and must have access to some of the frozen money. The ruling is a defeat for President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency, which argues the program is rife with financial mismanagement.
Judge blocks Trump EPA from clawing back $14 billion in climate grants – by Maxine Joselow – Washington Post – April 16, 2025 – The judge’s decision is the latest twist in a high-stakes battle over Joe Biden’s signature climate law. A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency from terminating at least $14 billion in climate grants approved under President Joe Biden. U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of D.C. issued a preliminary injunction late Tuesday that prohibits the EPA from “unlawfully suspending or terminating” the grant awards. She also ordered Citibank, which was tasked with disbursing the funds, to release the money to the grant recipients.
2 Judges Order Federal Agencies to Unfreeze Climate Money – by Claire Brown and Karen Zraick – New York Times – April 16, 2025 – Two court rulings on Tuesday unfroze hundreds of millions of dollars in federal climate funds, a win for nonprofit groups that have been denied access to money they were promised under the Biden administration. Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of the federal court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday ordered the immediate release of up to $625 million in climate grants that have been frozen since mid-February under the $20 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The fund is also known as the “green bank” program and has been a major target of Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
PA DEP Brings Back Clean Energy Opportunity Spotlight (CEOS) Series
PA DEP is renewing its Spotlight Series – with need-to-know information funding and technical assistance programs designed to help PA’s homes, municipalities, and non-profits thrive in a diversified, affordable clean energy future. Upcoming Spotlights:
- April 24, 2025 @ 2:00PM — Greening Your Community with the Local Climate Action Plan (LCAP) and Shared Energy Manager (SEM) Programs – Register Here
- May 2025: TBD – Energy Audits and Upgrades with the Municipal Opportunities for Retrofits and Energy Efficiency (MORE) Program and Partners
- June 2025: TBD – Getting the Most Out of Your Home with a Residential Energy Assessment
PJM Report – Describes Pathway to Avoid Consumer Cost Increases
Tackling the PJM Electricity Cost Crisis An Analysis of the Benefits of PJM Interconnection Reform – Press Event with Evergreen Collaborative & Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance – April 15, 2025. Highlights:
- Electricity customers in the PJM region (which spans all or parts of 13 Mid-Atlantic states and Washington, D.C.) are facing a looming cost crisis stemming from two major issues: (a) worsening barriers to building and connecting new generation resources needed to supply the electric grid, and (b) unprecedented increases in projected electricity demand.
- Accelerating new resource deployment will be necessary to reliably serve new and existing load without greatly increasing energy costs to electricity customers. Bringing online more clean energy resources will also be critical to reducing carbon dioxide emissions and meeting state climate goals.
- Power companies in the region are grappling with several barriers that impede their ability to connect new resources to the grid, including PJM’s interconnection queue delays, local permitting and siting processes, and global supply chain challenges.
- Synapse conducted power sector analysis, bill impact analysis, and job impact analysis to understand the benefits of resolving these queue constraints to customers and residents in the PJM states.
- The analysis shows that if PJM continues down its current path, residential electricity bills in the region are expected to increase by nearly 60 percent by the 2036–2040 period compared to historical levels.
- However, if PJM adequately implements interconnection reforms to enable the deployment of more cost-effective energy generation, largely comprised of clean energy sources, electricity bills are projected to decrease 7 percent by the same time period.
Impacts From Potential Repeals of Tax Credits & BIL/IRA Funding Freezes
E2: $8 Billion and 16 New Clean Energy Projects Abandoned in First 3 Months of 2025, Triple 2022-2024 Cancelled Investments Combined– April 17, 2025 — Investors cancelled, closed, or downsized nearly $8 billion in investments and 16 new large-scale factories in the first three months of 2025 amid escalating market uncertainty, and as Congress begins debate on repealing the tax credits. The $8 billion in cancelled investments since January are more than three times the total investments cancelled over the previous 30 months, according to E2’s latest Clean Economy Works monthly update. A full map and list of announcements is available at e2.org/announcements/.
Solar advocates lobby on strong fundamentals amid political uncertainty – By Diana DiGangi – Utility Dive – April 16, 2025 – As Congress weighs tax incentive cuts, and tariffs drive up materials prices, the solar industry is emphasizing the technology’s low cost and fast deployment speed.
- One of the things that’s resonating with lawmakers now is that you don’t want to strand investments that have been made by American businesses in local economies,” said Sean Gallagher, senior vice president of policy at the Solar Energy Industries Association. “You don’t want these factories that have opened up in the last couple years to go dark.”
- “Around 80% of the projects that are most advanced in interconnection queues across the country are solar and storage,” Gallagher said. He pointed to recent comments from NextEra Energy president and CEO John Ketchum, who said that “renewables are ready to go right now” while gas generation is facing deployment delays due to factors like high demand and labor shortages.
The Other Shoes Drop on EPA’s “Exemption By Email” Rule
Trump exempts nearly 70 coal plants from Biden-era rule on mercury and other toxic air pollution – By MATTHEW DALY – Associated Press – April 15, 2025
- The Trump administration has granted nearly 70 coal-fired power plants a two-year exemption from federal requirements to reduce emissions of toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic and benzene.
- A list quietly posted as of Tuesday on the Environmental Protection Agency’s website lists 47 power providers which operate at least 66 coal-fired plants that are receiving exemptions from the Biden-era rules under the Clean Air Act, including a regulation limiting air pollution from mercury and other toxins.
- The actions follow an executive order last week by President Donald Trump aimed at boosting the struggling coal industry, a reliable but polluting energy source that’s long been in decline.
- The exempted plants are owned by some of the nation’s largest power companies, including Talen Energy, Dominion Energy, NRG Energy and Southern Co.