New York Governor Hochul moved to delay and weaken the state's landmark climate law
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
- Hochul Moves to Delay New York Climate Law: The governor proposed pushing enforcement of the state's ambitious climate mandates to 2030, citing energy affordability concerns in a move that blindsided environmental advocates. Read More: New York Times.
- Ohio Regulators Reject 94-MW Agrivoltaic Project: The Ohio Power Siting Board unanimously denied the Crossroads Solar Grazing Center in Morrow County, dealing a blow to a model designed to blend solar generation with agricultural use. Read More: Solar Power World.
- Massachusetts Orders 10 GW Clean Energy Buildout: Governor Healey signed an executive order setting a 15-month permitting deadline for large-scale solar and storage, targeting 4 GW of solar, 5 GW of storage, and 3.5 GW of demand-side resources by 2035. Read More: PV Magazine USA.
- U.S. Battery Manufacturing Tops 100% of Demand: A new US Energy Storage Coalition report finds domestic battery manufacturing capacity now exceeds total U.S. demand for storage systems and modules, a milestone for energy independence. Read More: Energy Storage News.
- EPA Chief Zeldin to Keynote Climate-Skeptic Conference: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin will headline a Heartland Institute event that rejects mainstream climate science, signaling the Trump administration's continued alignment with fossil fuel interests. Read More: Seattle Times.
Solar & Storage
Ohio's rejection of the 94-MW Crossroads Solar Grazing Center marks a significant setback for the agrivoltaic model, which developers have increasingly pitched as a compromise to ease rural opposition to utility-scale solar. Open Road Renewables had proposed the project across 570 acres in three Morrow County townships, designing it specifically to allow livestock grazing beneath elevated panels — an approach intended to preserve agricultural use of the land. The Ohio Power Siting Board's suggests that even projects engineered for agricultural coexistence are failing to overcome local resistance and state-level regulatory skepticism in parts of the Midwest. Read More: unanimous denial.
The decision fits a broader pattern of siting friction that continues to dog the solar industry in rural America. Developers have bet heavily on agrivoltaics as the answer to community opposition, but the Ohio ruling raises pointed questions about whether that approach is enough — or whether deeper structural changes to permitting and community benefit agreements are needed to unlock buildout in states that have become increasingly hostile to large-scale solar.
On the corporate front, LEGO Group is pushing forward with a 28-MW solar installation at its $1.5 billion manufacturing facility in Chesterfield County, Virginia. The project includes a 22-MW ground-mounted array and a 6.1-MW rooftop system, with construction now underway and a target of powering the plant with. The installation illustrates how major manufacturers are increasingly building dedicated on-site solar capacity rather than relying solely on offsite power purchase agreements — a trend driven by both sustainability commitments and a desire to hedge against volatile energy costs. Read More: 100% renewable energy by 2027.
In the storage sector, the U.S. hit a striking milestone: domestic battery manufacturing capacity now exceeds 100% of American demand for energy storage systems and modules, according to a new. That achievement is particularly notable given the Trump administration's emphasis on energy independence and domestic manufacturing. It also comes on the heels of this week's Tesla-LG announcement of a $4.3 billion Michigan battery plant, and LG-GM's pivot of its Tennessee facility to grid-scale storage production — signals that the domestic supply chain is maturing rapidly. Read More: US Energy Storage Coalition report.
Meanwhile, flywheel energy storage startup Qnetic closed a $5 million funding round to scale U.S. production at its Sacramento, California facility. The company plans to ramp manufacturing of its Q500 system and launch utility and commercial pilot projects across the country, betting that can carve out a niche alongside lithium-ion batteries — particularly for applications requiring rapid cycling and longer asset lifespans. And at the upcoming Energy Storage Summit USA in Dallas, Trina Storage will present full-scale fire testing results for its 5 MWh Elementa 2 Pro platform, addressing growing industry focus on as battery deployments scale. Read More: mechanical storage alternatives, NFPA 855 safety compliance.
Wind Energy
No major new wind developments broke on Saturday, but the sector remains in a state of high tension following this week's reporting that the Trump administration is weighing a roughly $1 billion buyout to persuade TotalEnergies to surrender two U.S. offshore wind leases. That proposal, if executed, would represent an unprecedented use of federal funds to dismantle — rather than build — energy infrastructure. Offshore wind developers are watching closely for any formal action, as it could reshape the risk calculus for companies with existing lease commitments off the Atlantic coast.
A technical analysis published by this week highlighted HVDC export cables as an underappreciated risk for offshore wind projects, examining the supply chain constraints and installation challenges that can delay projects by months or years. For an industry already battered by permitting uncertainty and political headwinds, subsea cable bottlenecks represent yet another variable that developers must price into their project timelines. Read More: CleanTechnica.
Policy & Markets
The week's most consequential policy story is unfolding in Albany. New York Governor Kathy Hochul of the state's 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act until 2030, arguing that aggressive decarbonization timelines are driving up energy costs for consumers. The move stunned climate advocates who had held up New York's law as among the most ambitious in the nation. Hochul's retreat comes amid broader political recalculation — with the Trump administration rolling back federal climate regulations and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin a Heartland Institute conference that denies the existence of a climate crisis, state-level champions are increasingly feeling the political cost of ambitious climate targets. Read More: proposed delaying enforcement, scheduled to keynote.
The contrast with Massachusetts could not be sharper. Governor Maura Healey signed Executive Order 654 this week, establishing one of the most aggressive clean energy procurement mandates in the country: 4 GW of in-state solar, 5 GW of energy storage, and 3.5 GW of demand-side resources by 2035. Crucially, the order includes a for large-scale solar and storage projects — a direct acknowledgment that permitting bottlenecks, not just funding or technology, remain the single biggest barrier to deployment. A new Energy Infrastructure Siting and Permitting Council will oversee the framework, giving the state a centralized mechanism to accelerate approvals. Read More: 15-month permitting deadline.
In Minnesota, a different kind of energy debate is heating up. State legislators are considering new transparency requirements for data centers following community backlash in Hermantown, where residents have raised concerns about the energy and water demands of facilities that often arrive with minimal public disclosure. The has split stakeholders: local officials want greater oversight, while industry groups warn that disclosure mandates could push data center investment to less regulated states. The debate matters for clean energy because data centers are driving an enormous share of new electricity demand — and, increasingly, new solar and storage procurement. Read More: proposed legislation.
LOOKING AHEAD
- New York Climate Law Fallout: Watch for legislative and advocacy group responses to Governor Hochul's proposed delay — the coming weeks will determine whether the 2030 pushback stands or becomes a negotiating position.
- Massachusetts Permitting Framework: The newly created Energy Infrastructure Siting and Permitting Council will begin establishing rules for the 15-month permitting timeline, a process that could become a national model if it succeeds.
- Offshore Wind Buyout Decision: The Trump administration's potential $1 billion offer to TotalEnergies for its offshore wind leases remains unresolved — any formal move could trigger industry-wide reassessment of Atlantic coast wind commitments.
TODAY'S QUICK ANSWERS
Q: What does Ohio's agrivoltaic rejection mean for solar developers banking on dual-use designs?
A: It's a warning shot. Agrivoltaics were supposed to be the political bridge between solar development and rural land preservation, but the Morrow County decision shows that co-use designs alone aren't enough to overcome local opposition in skeptical jurisdictions. Developers should expect to invest far more in community engagement and benefit-sharing agreements — not just clever engineering — to win siting approvals in the Midwest.
Q: Why does the U.S. hitting 100% domestic battery manufacturing capacity matter right now?
A: It fundamentally changes the trade and tariff calculus. With domestic production now theoretically able to meet all U.S. storage demand, the industry gains significant insulation from the import tariffs and trade disputes that have roiled the solar supply chain. It also gives the Trump administration a genuine "energy dominance" talking point — domestic storage manufacturing is a bipartisan win that could help shield IRA battery incentives from repeal.
Q: What should clean energy developers watch in the New York vs. Massachusetts policy divergence?
A: These two states are now running opposite experiments. Massachusetts is betting that faster permitting and aggressive mandates will drive costs down through scale; New York is betting that slowing down will ease political backlash. Within 18 months, deployment data will start to show which approach actually delivers more megawatts at lower cost — and that evidence will shape clean energy policy in a dozen other states.
THE BOTTOM LINE: As New York retreats from its climate commitments and federal leadership leans further into climate skepticism, Massachusetts is emerging as the test case for whether aggressive state-level permitting reform can keep the clean energy buildout on track — and the results will matter far beyond New England.