Back
This year in energy has been an absolute blur. We started with President Donald Trump’s declaration of a federal energy emergency, saw the gutting of clean-energy tax credits, and finished with an Election Day where affordability took center stage.
Now, with 2025 almost behind us, let’s rewind and revisit the 10 stories that defined this year.
Trump declares an energy emergency
On his first day in office, Trump set course for a total revamp of the American energy landscape. Step one: Citing rising power demand to declare a national emergency on energy, all while freezing funds for clean energy programs. Trump proceeded to use that “emergency” to prop up fossil fuels — more on that below.
Interior Department halts — then restarts — Empire Wind construction
The Trump administration’s laser focus on killing offshore wind became impossible to ignore when, in April, it ordered Empire Wind to stop work. The turbines off New York had only been under construction for a few weeks, and the stop-work order was eventually lifted. The story essentially repeated itself a few months later with the nearly complete Revolution Wind project.
The Department of Energy forces coal plants to stay open
In May, the U.S. DOE cited its “emergency” to force Michigan’s J.H. Campbell coal plant to run past its retirement date. That order has been extended twice, and so far, the plant has racked up more than $100 million in costs for utility customers. The DOE later ordered other soon-to-retire fossil-fueled plants to keep operating.
The “Big, Beautiful Bill” guts clean energy incentives
On the Fourth of July, Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was big but certainly not beautiful for clean energy. The legislation took an axe to the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act and its tens of billions of dollars in funding for the energy transition.
Nuclear gets a federal boost
At least one carbon-free power source has been exempt from Trump’s hit list. The administration has elevated nuclear power as a solution to rising power demand, including by promoting the restart of some retired nuclear plants. It’s also poured funding into the development of small modular reactors and other next-generation technologies.
Batteries have a stellar year, again
Energy storage was also spared the Trump administration’s wrath, though tariffs and “foreign entity of concern” rules will likely weaken the industry. Still, the U.S. installed 12.9 GW during the first three quarters of the year, already beating 2024’s total installed capacity of 12.3 GW.
EVs’ record quarter and collapse
Federal tax credits for EV purchases went out with a bang. In the three months before their expiration at the end of September, the U.S. saw nearly 440,000 new EVs hit the roads, smashing the past quarterly sales record. But now that we’re in a post-incentive world, EV sales have sunk.
Blue-state climate grants slashed
One of the Trump administration’s biggest attacks on clean energy came in October, when the DOE moved to claw back nearly $8 billion in grants for climate and energy projects, largely in states that voted for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. The Justice Department later admitted in a court filing that those states’ politics put them in the administration’s crosshairs.
Data center opposition reaches a fever pitch
Data centers and their potential to use huge amounts of energy became a top concern in 2025, especially in hot spots like Virginia and Texas. State legislatures introduced close to 200 bills regarding data centers this year, with about 50 aimed at incentivizing their development, and others targeting their impact on the environment and on electricity costs for other consumers.
Energy affordability defines state elections
Democrats swept this year’s few statewide elections, many of which centered on rising energy prices. Both New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill and Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger campaigned on promises to tackle spiking energy costs, and the two Democrats who won seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission said they’d push to build more clean, cheap energy.
Ford trades EV ambitions for battery storage
From electrifying its bestselling F-150 to building a massive manufacturing complex in Tennessee, Ford once aspired to lead the EV transition. That all changed this week as the company announced it will incur nearly $20 billion in charges to extricate itself from its EV investments. That Tennessee facility, known as BlueOval City, will build gas-powered trucks in lieu of electric models, and production of the F-150 Lightning will end.
But as Ford backs away from EVs, it’s entering a new market. The automaker will repurpose its Kentucky EV battery facility to build grid-scale batteries instead. As Canary Media’s Julian Spector put it, Ford is essentially copying Tesla’s game plan to expand into storage — but without an EV stronghold to fall back on, it could be a risky move.
Another coal plant restart — and more to follow?
As you read above, the Trump administration’s coal plant restarts are a huge piece of its fossil-fuel-boosting agenda, and we got two more updates on that front this week. On Tuesday, the DOE ordered Unit 2 of TransAlta’s Centralia, Washington, coal power plant to stay open for the next 90 days. TransAlta has been planning since 2011 to shutter the facility, and was prepared to do so this month to comply with a Washington state law prohibiting coal burning that takes effect next year.
A similar situation may soon play out in Indiana, Canary Media’s Kari Lydersen reports. Two coal plants in the state are supposed to close this month, but their owners have told regulators they anticipate orders from the Trump administration will keep the facilities running.
Also this week: The U.S. House passed a bill that will broaden the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s authority to keep power plants online past their scheduled retirements.
Not so fast: The U.S. House passes the SPEED Act, an attempt at revamping the National Environmental Policy Act to hasten energy project permitting, but the bill faces a big hurdle in the Senate: opposition from climate-hawk Democrats. (Inside Climate News)
The sun is setting: Solar companies face a “mad rush” of customers looking to get panels before federal tax credits expire, leading to installation delays that could cause many hopeful buyers to miss out on the incentives. (The Verge)
Can you dig it? A Colorado coal town prepares for the closure of its nearby power plant by building an industrial park that aims to attract businesses by offering low-cost geothermal heating and cooling. (Canary Media)
Fusion fight: China pulls ahead in its race with the U.S. to prove and commercialize fusion energy technology, largely because it’s devoting far more resources to the effort. (New York Times)
Keeping renewables rolling: Tribal nations look to loans and philanthropy to keep building planned clean energy projects after the Trump administration revokes the Solar for All program and other federal funding. (Utility Dive)
Planning committee: A New Hampshire program that deploys experts to help small towns plan for a transition to clean energy inspires a federally funded nationwide pilot. (Canary Media)
Winter woes: The National Energy Assistance Directors Association predicts U.S. home heating prices will rise an average of 9.2% this winter compared to last — about three times the rate of inflation — thanks to increasing gas and electricity prices and cold conditions. (New York Times, news release)
.svg)
