With help from Annie Snider, Zack Colman, Alex Guillén, Kelsey Tamborrino and James Bikales
Quick Fix:
— Staffers at a key EPA pollution research facility in North Carolina are closing up the site after the Trump administration decided not to renew its lease.
— Seven energy industry groups urged Senate leaders to scale back the House’s proposed changes to the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean electricity investment tax credit.
— EPA has proposed approving an application from the Texas Railroad Commission to allow the oil and gas regulator to oversee carbon sequestration well permitting in the state.
GOOD MORNING! IT’S TUESDAY. I’m your host, Isa Domínguez.
Bob Powers of the Nuclear Energy Institute is our trivia winner for knowing the Beatles played their first U.S. concert in D.C. at the Washington Coliseum, formerly the Uline Arena, which is now an REI.
For today: Which Ernest Hemingway novel is set in Florida?
Send your tips and trivia answers to me at idominguez@politico.com and follow me @IsaMDominguez.
Check out the POLITICO Energy podcast — all the energy and environmental politics and policy news you need to start your day, in just five minutes. Listen and subscribe for free at politico.com/energy-podcast. On today’s episode: The one climate technology that might survive the GOP megabill
Driving the Day:
POLLUTION RESEARCH FACILITY SHUTTERED: Staffers at a major EPA research facility in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, are scrambling to pack up their laboratory equipment before the end of June after the Trump administration moved to shut it down, our Annie Snider and Zack Colman report.
Established in the early 1990s under the agency’s Office of Research and Development, the Human Research Facility’s work had been a major contributor to three decades’ worth of air pollution regulations. According to a current EPA scientist who works in the Chapel Hill facility, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to a fear of reprisals, staff members had been working on new ozone and particulate matter studies when the administration announced its closure.
An EPA website listing study opportunities shows a number of planned research projects at the site are no longer recruiting participants, including studies on how social and environmental factors can together impact health and how wood smoke affects the heart and lungs. The EPA scientist said that exposure rooms — which allow researchers to study how air pollutants affect the body — have already been closed. It is unclear what will happen to the approximately 50 federal employees who had been working in the building.
The facility’s shuttering comes as EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin looks to make deep cuts in the agency’s broader research efforts. Although the agency has yet to implement a formal Reduction in Force, more than 3,150 EPA staffers have applied to take deferred retirement and political leaders are encouraging research office staffers who are remaining to apply for positions elsewhere in the agency.
Its closure has sparked concern among air quality researchers and public health advocates who say it limits the EPA’s ability to make appropriate decisions to inform regulations based on the newest data.
“We know we need more protective standards to continue to ratchet down on these dangerous air pollutants,” said Laura Kate Bender, an executive with the American Lung Association. “How we do that without the pipeline that provides research that is the backbone of these reviews — it’s hard to see.”
HAPPENING TODAY: POLITICO’s annual Energy Summit kicks off this morning in Washington, D.C. It comes at a critical moment as Republicans in the Senate wrestle with the rollbacks of clean energy tax credits in the House-approved reconciliation bill, and companies — from automakers to fuel producers and renewable energy developers — are preparing for what’s next.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) will sit down with our Rachael Bade to talk about the Republicans’ megabill, while Josh Siegel will talk with Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Democratic ranking member Sen. Martin Heinrich about the fate of America’s green energy initiatives under President Donald Trump. And our White House Bureau Chief Dasha Burns will interview Jarrod Agen, executive director of the Trump’s National Energy Dominance Council, about its work. And we’ll have probing sessions with the NextEra Energy CEO John Ketchum and Energy Capital Partners’ founder Doug Kimmelman. Check out out the full line — and register here to watch.
On The Hill:
THE WRIGHT STUFF: Energy Secretary Chris Wright will appear this morning before the House Energy and Commerce energy subcommittee to testify on the president’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal, where he is expected to face questions on his efforts to cut staffing and Biden-era funding.
Wright may also face questions on Republicans’ efforts to cut clean energy tax credits and funding for the Loan Programs Office — two topics he addressed in remarks before an energy conference on Monday. Wright said then he supported keeping tax incentives for nuclear and geothermal through 2031 and mentioned he was negotiating with lawmakers on the future of the LPO.
E&C ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) is expected to use his opening remarks to address the loss of experienced personnel at DOE, cancellation of funding, Elon Musk’s role and proposed cuts in the president’s budget request to renewable grid integration and wind and solar energy, as well as the Weatherization Assistance Program and loan programs.
“I have tried to get answers from you on a number of actions at DOE ranging from staffing cuts to project delays and funding freezes,” Pallone will say, according to prepared remarks shared with ME. “But every single letter I have sent has gone unanswered.”
Pallone is also planning to say that he agrees with Wright on investing in nuclear energy with the help of the LPO. “That’s something I hope you will reiterate with Committee Republicans today who don’t seem to share that view,” he will say.
On the flip side, expect E&C Chair Guthrie to home in on accountability, China and mounting new energy demand in the U.S., according to excerpts of his remarks shared with ME.
“There certainly is room to be more efficient and effective across the agency and the enterprise, for the sake of taxpayer stewardship,” Guthrie will say. “Ultimately, what matters is aligning DOE to deliver the nuclear and energy security results that are most essential for the nation and to support the engineering and science that will help sustain a prosperous future.”
ME FIRST — INDUSTRY HONES IRA ASKS: Seven energy industry groups urged Senate leaders Monday to rethink changes to the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean electricity investment tax credit, which they said is “effectively” eliminated by the House-passed megabill.
The letter — shared first with ME — argues the House bill would “freeze investment in hundreds of gigawatts” of energy projects, particularly in the battery storage sector that is helping shore up the grid amid increasing reliability threats. “The House-passed language amounts to the single largest nationwide utility bill increase in American history,” wrote the groups, which range from the critical minerals to solar sectors.
The groups support a “broad foreign entity prohibition” on the ownership level, but urged a “delayed or phased-in approach” if the rules are to be applied to the supply chain. And they commended the House for restoring transferability for the investment tax credit in the final version of the bill, a departure from the Ways and Means draft.
Hitting the airwaves: One of the letter’s signatories, the energy security group SAFE, launched a high-six figure ad buy Monday making the case that preserving the IRA credits is critical to national security. In the ads running on TV and digital in five states, former Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair argues that “China knows that secure energy and manufacturing define global power” and the U.S. needs to preserve the tools to stay in the race.
ME FIRST — COVERING YOUR BASELOAD: Rep. Julie Fedorchak (R-N.D.) is planning to introduce legislation today to amend the Federal Power Act to prevent the premature retirement of baseload sources.
The Baseload Reliability Protection Act would prohibit the retirement of baseload generators — like coal, nuclear and natural gas plants — in regions identified by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation as being at elevated risk or high risk of electricity supply shortfalls. It would require those baseload units to stay online until they are adequately replaced or are exempted under specific reliability-focused criteria, like if a generator’s continued operation is unprofitable.
The bill would also empower the Energy Department to provide grants and loans to keep critical power plants running and invest in upgrades that extend their operational life, with revenues being used for deficit reduction. The bill is being co-sponsored by Reps. August Pfluger (R-Texas), Carol Miller (R-W.Va.), Troy Balderson (R-Ohio), Randy Weber (R-Texas), Michael Rulli (R-Ohio) and Craig Goldman (R-Texas).
Around the Agencies:
EPA NODS TOWARD TEXAS CARBON WELL CONTROL: EPA has proposed approving an application from the Texas Railroad Commission — which, despite its name, actually regulates oil and gas — to oversee permitting of carbon sequestration wells, known in EPA lingo as “Class VI” wells. Texas’ technical standards meet federal requirements, the state can support a “robust” compliance program and it “has available the necessary civil and criminal enforcement authorities,” EPA said in its proposal.
“The state of Texas has effectively and reliably administered programs for underground injection wells while protecting drinking water sources for decades,” Region 6 Administrator Scott Mason said in a statement. “I am confident their success will continue with Class VI wells.” EPA currently has 17 applications under review, some of which are made up of multiple proposed wells.
Environmentalists who have long complained about the RRC’s close ties to the oil and gas industry it regulates, may push back on EPA’s proposal, especially following leaks last year from a federally permitted carbon well in Illinois. Earthjustice and other groups petitioned EPA last year to revoke the RRC’s control over Class II wells, which are used to inject fluids used in oil and gas production and warned that it bade poorly for giving the state control over carbon wells.
EPA recently proposed giving Arizona control over well permitting, making it and Texas the fifth and sixth states to get the nod. Alaska and Colorado have also taken early steps toward getting approval. The Texas proposal will be open for 45 days of public comment once published in the Federal Register.
Beyond the Beltway:
THE PRICE TO PAY: The Rhodium Group published a new report saying that the Republican mega bill would threaten $522 billion in investment nationwide, and the repeal of tax credits could stall innovation and growth in the clean manufacturing industry.
The Grid:
Sunnova files for bankruptcy amid rooftop solar struggles, via Bloomberg
Key Pa. senator says bipartisan energy bills on hold until contested climate program settled, via Spotlight PA
Amid gas crunch, Alaska could revoke leases from a company whose drilling has stalled, via Alaska Beacon
Data centers to pay new electricity rate under Oregon bill that has passed, via Salem Statesman Journal
Inside Trump’s purge of federal heat experts, via POLITICO’s E&E News
On The Calendar:
TUESDAY
8 a.m. — POLITICO holds its 2025 Energy Summit.
9 a.m. — The Nuclear Industry Council holds its Summit on Global Nuclear Energy Markets.
9:30 a.m. — The Atlantic Council holds a virtual briefing on “Marine Energy: Harnessing the Power of the Atlantic.”
10 a.m. — The House Energy and Commerce Energy Subcommittee holds a hearing on “The FY2026 Department of Energy Budget.”
10:15 a.m. — The House Natural Resources Federal Lands Subcommittee holds a hearing on wildfire legislation, a bill that would require the Secretary of Agriculture to convey a parcel of property of the Forest Service to Perry County, Arkansas, and a bill that would direct agencies in the Department of the Interior to develop a tribal co-management plan.
2 p.m. — Alliance to Save Energy holds a webinar on “The Future of Energy Efficiency & U.S. Leadership.”
THAT’S ALL FOR ME!
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