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Massachusetts ups winter energy discounts for homes with heat pumps

Winter savings are in store for more than 65,000 Massachusetts households as two electric utilities slash their rates for heat pump owners below last year’s already discounted prices. Last winter, Massachusetts became the first state to require major utilities to offer a lower seasonal rate for all the electricity…
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Google backs Swedish green-steel project to tackle rising emissions

Google is backing the buildout of a novel green-steel mill in Sweden as the tech giant grapples with rising greenhouse gas emissions from its AI expansion. On Thursday, the company said it is partnering with Stegra to help bring the Swedish firm’s flagship facility online. Unlike traditional coal-fueled mills,…
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Newsom's last chance to tackle California's electricity costs

This is California Wire , a weekly newsletter from Jeff St. John on the state’s clean energy transition. Subscribe to get it every Wednesday via Substack . I’m launching this newsletter at an intriguing moment in California politics. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom — who everyone knows is eyeing a run for the White…
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Is it time to rethink the Northeast's cap-and-trade system?

Twenty years ago, a group of Northeastern states signed on to a plan to reduce the greenhouse gases spewing from power plants by making generators pay for the carbon they release. Since then, the region’s power sector emissions have dropped by half, and states have reaped more than $10 billion in revenue to invest in…
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Illinois revamps clean energy jobs training for a shifting economy

Illinois has spent the last few years training hundreds of people for clean energy jobs. Now, it’s upgrading its keystone program to better respond to new workforce realities. In 2023, Illinois rolled out about a dozen state-funded hubs that paid individuals to learn basic job-hunting skills and clean energy trades,…
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In a first, cement giant to tap thermal batteries for cleaner heat

Making the cement that holds together our buildings and streets is a highly carbon-intensive process — one that involves burning lots of fossil fuels to blast materials with searing heat. But startups are developing technologies that could use clean electricity to produce cement instead, and a Boston-based firm is…
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California moves to cut red tape for heat pumps, solar, and more

Californians could soon find it easier and cheaper to install rooftop solar, home batteries, and energy-saving heat pumps and heat-pump water heaters. Late last month, the state Legislature passed two first-in-the-nation bills that would streamline permitting and inspections for these clean energy home projects.…
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Gavin Newsom’s complicated legacy on climate and clean energy

Gavin Newsom’s eight-year run as California’s Democratic governor — and as self-styled U.S. climate change warrior — comes to an end in January. At this pivotal moment for the state’s clean energy transition, it’s worth reflecting on how he’s lived up to his clean energy commitments and what kind of climate legacy he…
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An Idaho county banned renewables. It’s having second thoughts.

This article was copublished with The Daily Yonder , a newsroom covering rural America. POCATELLO, Idaho — Jeff Hough did not pull any punches. What his fellow Republican county commissioners were about to do, he said to the packed courthouse, would violate America’s founding ideals. He quoted the Declaration of…
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Balcony solar is this year’s clean energy superstar in the US

This analysis and news roundup come from the Canary Media Weekly newsletter. Sign up to get it every Friday. Summer is only just coming to a close, but this year’s top clean energy trendsetter is already clear. At the start of 2026, you may never have even heard of balcony solar. The panels have long been staples…
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The battery era is here — and China is supplying it

See more from Canary Media’s ​“Chart of the Week” column . Batteries are taking center stage in the energy world. Battery deployment, both to power electric vehicles and to store electricity for the grid, has skyrocketed in recent years. Last year, more than 1.5 terawatt-hours of batteries were placed into service…
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Coal-to-solar project lands a rare clean-energy win in Ohio

Clean energy scored a rare win in Ohio last month when state regulators unanimously approved a permit for 149 megawatts of solar and 149 MW of battery storage at the Hamden Energy site in Vinton County, located in the southeast quadrant of the state. In contrast to most of the state’s solar permitting cases, no…
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Trump emergency order casts uncertainty over grid battery growth

The Trump administration’s vaguely worded executive order on grid cybersecurity threatens to slow down the booming U.S. energy storage market . The order, issued late last month, declares a national security emergency over the risk that foreign-made technologies could be used to hack into and disrupt the U.S. power…
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Virginia kept its climate law. Dominion sees a loophole.

Even as data centers spike energy demand and electricity rates rise, Virginia has stood by its landmark climate targets when other states, from New York to Hawaii , have wavered. Legislators in the data center capital of the world didn’t just preserve the 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act earlier this year; they…
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Shuttered nuclear plant in Iowa gets $1.9B federal loan to restart

A third shuttered U.S. nuclear power plant is set to attempt a comeback with hefty support from the federal government. On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Energy said it closed a loan of up to $1.9 billion to NextEra Energy to help finance the restart of the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa, which shut down six…
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