Trump's DOJ moves to reopen a federal permit for the 2-GW New England Wind project off…
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
- DOJ Moves to Revoke New England Wind Permit: The Trump administration's Justice Department is backing efforts to reopen the federal permit for the 2-GW New England Wind offshore project off Massachusetts, supporting anti-wind groups seeking to undo the approval. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse warned the move could blow up a bipartisan permitting deal. (Canary Media, Politico) Read More: Canary Media, Politico.
- Developer Proposes 6.6-GW Nuclear Campus in Kentucky: The Nuclear Company has secured a site in Lewis County along the Ohio River for up to six Westinghouse AP1000 reactors, with construction targeted for 2028. (Power Magazine) Read More: Power Magazine.
- Michigan Judge Hands RWE 562 Acres for $330M Solar Project: An Ottawa County judge ruled in favor of German developer RWE Solar in a land dispute, granting control of 562 acres of farmland for the 1,900-acre Silver Maple Solar Project in Michigan. (Michigan Advance) Read More: Michigan Advance.
- California Utilities Approve SolarEdge Meter Collar: Pacific Gas and Electric and San Diego Gas and Electric approved SolarEdge's Nexis IslandDER meter collar, simplifying residential solar-plus-storage interconnection across California. (PV Magazine USA) Read More: PV Magazine USA.
- Community Solar Gains Ground in Three States: Kendall Sustainable Infrastructure activated 15.8 MWdc across New York and Oregon, while Generate Capital and TurningPoint Energy completed a 3.5-MWac project in Sandwich, Illinois as part of a larger 34.5-MWac portfolio in Kendall County. (PV Tech, Solar Power World) Read More: PV Tech, Solar Power World.
Solar & Storage
A Michigan land-use ruling could set a consequential precedent for utility-scale solar developers fighting local opposition. An Ottawa County judge sided with RWE Solar in a $330 million dispute with a local family, granting the German developer legal control of 562 acres of farmland needed for the 1,900-acre Silver Maple Solar Project spanning Zeeland and Jamestown townships. For developers navigating the increasingly fraught politics of agricultural-land conversion, the ruling affirms that contractual agreements with landowners can withstand challenge — though the underlying tensions around rural solar siting are unlikely to ease. Read More: $330 million dispute.
Community solar, meanwhile, continues to add capacity in small but steady increments. Kendall Sustainable Infrastructure brought 15.8 MWdc online across three projects in New York and Oregon. In Illinois, Generate Capital and TurningPoint Energy completed a 3.5-MWac installation in Sandwich through the Illinois Shines program — the first of an eight-project, 34.5-MWac portfolio the developers are building in Kendall County. These are modest individual projects, but they represent the distributed backbone of state-level clean energy mandates that continue to generate deal flow regardless of federal headwinds. Read More: brought 15.8 MWdc online, completed a 3.5-MWac installation.
On the commercial-scale side, the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland activated a 3.5-acre rooftop solar installation with 4,696 panels designed to supply up to 20% of the resort's peak electrical load and offset as much as half of its electricity consumption. The project is one of the larger commercial rooftop arrays on the East Coast and illustrates how behind-the-meter solar economics now work for high-consumption commercial properties. Read More: activated a 3.5-acre rooftop solar installation.
In California, two major investor-owned utilities cleared a path for faster residential solar-and-battery installations. PG&E and SDG&E approved SolarEdge's Nexis IslandDER meter collar, a device that allows distributed energy resources to connect directly at the meter without a separate subpanel. The approval matters for installers because meter collars cut both time and cost from the interconnection process — a persistent bottleneck that has slowed residential deployments even in the nation's most favorable solar markets. Read More: approved SolarEdge's Nexis IslandDER meter collar.
Wind Energy
The Trump administration's campaign against offshore wind ratcheted up again this week, and this time the consequences may extend well beyond the wind sector. The Justice Department is now seeking to reopen the federal permit for the 2-GW New England Wind project off Massachusetts, supporting anti-wind groups that want the approval revoked. Multiple outlets reported the development simultaneously, a sign of how seriously Washington is taking the escalation. Read More: supporting anti-wind groups.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse didn't mince words. In remarks reported by Politico, the Rhode Island Democrat said the administration's move threatens to blow up a bipartisan permitting reform deal — legislation both parties had been negotiating to streamline approvals for energy infrastructure broadly, including pipelines and transmission lines favored by Republicans. If the federal government demonstrates it can retroactively undo completed environmental reviews for political reasons, the argument goes, no permitting reform carries credibility. Read More: In remarks reported by Politico.
The stakes for developers are immediate and practical. Offshore wind projects require years of federal review, billions in capital commitment, and long-lead procurement of specialized vessels and turbines. A precedent that allows completed permits to be reopened at the direction of a new administration's DOJ would fundamentally alter the risk calculus for project finance — not just in wind, but across any federally permitted energy project. The Seattle Times reported the action risks undermining the broader deal to speed energy project approvals. Read More: Seattle Times reported.
Policy & Markets
The most ambitious new-build proposal of the week came not from solar or wind but from nuclear. The Nuclear Company disclosed plans for a 6.6-GW nuclear campus in Lewis County, Kentucky, along the Ohio River, capable of hosting up to six Westinghouse AP1000 reactors. The developer says it has secured the site and plans to pursue federal approvals with construction targeted to begin in 2028. If built to full capacity, the campus would be the largest nuclear facility proposed in the United States in decades — though the AP1000 track record at Vogtle suggests cost and schedule overruns remain the design's defining risk. Read More: 6.6-GW nuclear campus in Lewis County, Kentucky.
Internationally, China's National Development and Reform Commission proposed revised electricity spot market rules that would allow renewable energy projects and co-located battery storage systems to bid jointly into wholesale markets, effective January 2027. The rules, reported by PV Magazine, would let operators optimize delivery timing around price signals — a market design U.S. grid operators have debated for years. For American storage developers watching FERC's own participation orders, China's approach offers a reference point for what integrated renewable-plus-storage bidding looks like at national scale. Read More: reported by PV Magazine.
LOOKING AHEAD
- Offshore Wind Permitting Fallout: Watch for formal legal filings from the DOJ on the New England Wind permit and any response from the project's developers; the outcome could determine whether other permitted offshore wind projects face similar challenges.
- Kentucky Nuclear Site Review: The Nuclear Company's 6.6-GW AP1000 campus in Lewis County will need NRC review and extensive state-level approvals — early community and political reactions will signal whether the project gains traction or faces Vogtle-style skepticism.
- Illinois Shines Portfolio Buildout: TurningPoint Energy has seven more community solar projects totaling roughly 31 MWac still to complete in Kendall County; the pace of those completions will test whether Illinois's incentive program can sustain developer interest amid shifting federal policy.
TODAY'S QUICK ANSWERS
Q: What does the DOJ's move on New England Wind mean for other federally permitted clean energy projects?
A: If the government successfully reopens a completed federal permit for a 2-GW offshore wind project, it sets a precedent that no final approval is truly final. That introduces retroactive regulatory risk into project finance for any energy asset — wind, solar, transmission, pipelines — that relies on federal environmental review. Lenders and equity investors will price that uncertainty, potentially raising the cost of capital across the sector.
Q: Why should solar developers pay attention to the Michigan land ruling?
A: The Ottawa County decision gives RWE Solar legal control of 562 acres it needs for a $330 million, 1,900-acre project, validating the developer's contractual claims against a local family's challenge. For developers assembling large land positions through individual landowner agreements — the standard approach for utility-scale solar — the ruling reinforces that courts will enforce those contracts. But the dispute itself is a reminder that early, aggressive community engagement remains cheaper than litigation.
Q: How realistic is a 6.6-GW nuclear campus in Kentucky by the end of the decade?
A: Extremely ambitious. The developer targets construction starting in 2028, but NRC licensing for even a single AP1000 reactor typically takes years, and the only U.S. AP1000 project — Vogtle Units 3 and 4 in Georgia — ran roughly seven years behind schedule and billions over budget. A six-reactor campus would require sustained political support, massive capital commitments, and a workforce buildup that doesn't yet exist. The proposal signals strong interest in new nuclear, but the timeline should be treated as aspirational.
THE BOTTOM LINE: The Trump administration's attempt to retroactively reopen a completed offshore wind permit threatens not just one 2-GW project but the legal certainty underpinning every federally approved energy development in the country — and the bipartisan permitting reform effort that was supposed to fix the system.