The EPA has locked in record-high biofuel mandates for 2026-2027

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

• EPA Seals Record-High Biofuel Mandate for Two Years: The agency's new Renewable Fuel Standard requires the highest biofuel volumes ever blended into U.S. gasoline and diesel, framing the policy as an energy security play to cut foreign oil dependence —. Read More: Iowa Capital Dispatch.
• NV Energy Proposal Threatens Nevada Rooftop Solar: The utility's new demand charge structure would bill residential solar customers based on peak usage rather than total consumption, potentially undermining the economics of distributed solar across the state —. Read More: PV Magazine USA.
• Clean Energy Firms Pivot to Survive Trump Era: Companies are retreating from offshore wind and pivoting toward geothermal and other technologies less targeted by federal policy, in a sweeping industry recalibration —. Read More: New York Times.
• Michigan Approves $276M Rate Hike for Consumers Energy: The state's utility regulator greenlit an 8.9% electricity rate increase effective May 1, adding pressure on ratepayers even as the state courts massive new data center loads —. Read More: Michigan Advance.
• McMorrow Unveils Green Energy Plan for Michigan Data Centers: Michigan Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow released a seven-point framework requiring clean energy sourcing, union labor, and tax transparency for the 15-plus data center proposals flooding the state —. Read More: Michigan Advance.

Solar & Storage

The convergence of artificial intelligence and long-duration energy storage continues to reshape the clean energy landscape. As reported in yesterday's briefing, Form Energy's landmark 12 GWh iron-air battery deal with AI infrastructure developer Crusoe remains the week's marquee story — and new details underscore its significance. The agreement, which will be manufactured at Form Energy's facility in Weirton, West Virginia, pushes the company's total project pipeline past 75 GWh, establishing iron-air technology as a serious contender for the grid-scale storage market that lithium-ion has long dominated. For data center developers facing immense pressure to secure reliable, around-the-clock power, signals that multi-day battery storage is no longer theoretical — it's being ordered at industrial scale. Read More: the Crusoe partnership.

That data center-driven energy demand is creating both opportunity and tension at the state level. In Michigan, where more than 15 data center proposals are under consideration — including a staggering 1.4-gigawatt facility being developed by Oracle and OpenAI — state Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow is trying to get ahead of a potential backlash. Her would require data centers to source power from green energy, contribute meaningful tax revenue, employ union labor, and operate with greater transparency. The plan reflects growing anxiety among Michigan residents and policymakers that data centers could strain the grid, drive up electricity costs, and extract generous tax incentives without delivering proportional community benefits. Read More: seven-point policy plan.

Those cost concerns are already materializing. The Michigan Public Service Commission's approval of a — an 8.9% increase hitting customers May 1 — comes at a moment when the state is simultaneously courting gigawatt-scale new load. The collision between rising retail rates and massive new industrial demand will test whether Michigan can attract data center investment without burdening existing ratepayers. Read More: $276.6 million rate hike for Consumers Energy.

In Nevada, the economics of rooftop solar face a different kind of threat. to implement demand charges for residential solar customers would fundamentally change how those customers are billed, shifting the basis from total energy consumption to peak usage. For solar homeowners, this creates significant financial volatility — a single high-demand moment, such as running an air conditioner on a hot afternoon, could spike a monthly bill regardless of how much solar energy that customer generated overall. Industry advocates warn the move could effectively kill the economic case for new rooftop installations in the state, echoing the utility's controversial 2015 rate restructuring that briefly cratered Nevada's distributed solar market. Read More: NV Energy's proposal.

Meanwhile, the case for domestic solar manufacturing is growing louder. A this week emphasized that geopolitical uncertainty and tariff volatility have made onshoring the solar supply chain not just a policy preference but a business imperative. With trade tensions continuing to roil global supply chains, manufacturers are calling for sustained policy certainty — a commodity in increasingly short supply. And on the deployment side, robotics company Maximo is advancing at AES Clean Energy's Bellefield utility-scale solar project, a development that could help address chronic labor shortages and reduce installation costs for large-scale solar farms across the country. Read More: panel of industry experts, automated installation technology.

Wind Energy

The offshore wind sector remains in crisis mode under the Trump administration, and two stories today illustrate the depth of the damage. The that clean energy companies are broadly retreating from offshore wind development in the United States, with the sector suffering the steepest losses of any renewable energy technology under the current policy regime. The administration's unprecedented deal to pay developers to halt offshore wind projects — a $1 billion arrangement that drew sharp legal scrutiny this week — has sent a chilling signal to an industry that had just begun building momentum after years of permitting delays. Read More: New York Times reports.

An captures the frustration, calling the payout deal fiscally reckless and arguing that market fundamentals — falling costs, grid reliability needs, and job creation — will ultimately reassert themselves regardless of federal obstruction. Yet for developers making investment decisions today, the long-term argument provides little comfort. The industry's pivot toward geothermal and other technologies perceived as less politically vulnerable is accelerating, a strategic retreat that could set back U.S. offshore wind capacity goals by years. Read More: opinion piece in the Seattle Times.

Internationally, the contrast is stark. this week after relaxing local content requirements from 60% to attract more international developers — the kind of pragmatic policy adjustment that the American offshore wind industry can only envy as it watches its federal government move in the opposite direction. Read More: Taiwan launched a 3.6 GW offshore wind auction.

Policy & Markets

The EPA's new Renewable Fuel Standard is the most consequential federal clean energy policy action in weeks — and notably, it's one the Trump administration is championing. The for 2026 and 2027 are framed squarely in the administration's preferred language of energy independence and rural economic development, with projections of displacing 300,000 barrels per day of foreign oil imports and injecting more than. The two-year mandate provides a rare window of regulatory certainty for biofuel producers in the Midwest, where ethanol and biodiesel facilities anchor local economies. Read More: record-high biofuel mandates, $10 billion into rural economies.

The biofuel mandate stands in sharp contrast to the administration's posture toward other clean energy sectors. , one of the original architects of the Clean Air Act, spoke out this week about his fears for the law's future, directly challenging the administration's position on greenhouse gas regulation under the EPA's endangerment finding. Jorling's warning underscores a deeper tension: even as the administration expands one renewable fuel mandate, it is simultaneously working to dismantle the regulatory framework that undergirds federal climate action. Read More: Thomas Jorling.

On the infrastructure front, EVgo's opening of a represents continued private-sector investment in EV charging despite federal funding delays and policy uncertainty. The hub is among the larger single-site deployments in California and reflects growing confidence that electric vehicle adoption will continue on the strength of consumer demand and state-level policy regardless of federal headwinds. Read More: 28-stall fast charging hub in San Diego.

LOOKING AHEAD

• NV Energy Demand Charge Fight: Solar industry groups are expected to mount fierce opposition to the Nevada demand charge proposal in upcoming regulatory proceedings — watch for intervention filings and public comment campaigns in the weeks ahead.
• Michigan Data Center Policy Battle: With 15-plus data center proposals pending and a $276M rate hike about to hit ratepayers, Michigan is becoming a key test case for whether states can attract AI infrastructure investment without crushing existing customers — legislative action could come before summer.
• Offshore Wind Legal Challenges: Legal scrutiny of the administration's $1 billion deal to halt offshore wind development is intensifying, and formal legal challenges could reshape the sector's trajectory in coming months.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The clean energy industry is fracturing into winners and losers under the Trump administration — biofuels and long-duration storage are surging on energy security and AI demand narratives, while offshore wind faces existential federal hostility and distributed solar confronts a new wave of utility rate restructuring that could undermine its economics state by state.