# How the Trump administration is obstructing clean energy – and why it raises your costs

*Published:* 2026-07-30
*Author:* Ted Kelly

Electricity prices [are rising](https://climatepower.us/news/new-household-electricity-prices-have-spiked-by-18-since-trump-took-office/) across the U.S. Demand for electricity is [going up](https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=65264) for the first time in 20 years. And more extreme weather and heat waves [are causing](https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/weather-related-power-outages-rising) blackouts.

Yet instead of expanding access to low-cost, clean power, the Trump administration is making the problem worse. Since Day One, the administration and its allies in Congress have pushed policies that restrict the supply of affordable, homegrown clean energy – creating a self-inflicted rate hike just as the country needs more power.

The consequences are apparent: According to research from EDF and Atlas Public Policy, [21 gigawatts of clean power](https://www.edf.org/media/report-clean-power-maintains-strong-lead-faces-challenges-due-administration-policy-reversals) have been cancelled in that timeframe – or about 10 Hoover Dams’ worth of generating capacity.

Wind and solar offer some of [the cheapest](https://www.lazard.com/research-insights/levelized-cost-of-energyplus-lcoeplus/) – and fastest – ways to provide electric power today. In contrast, the [cost to build natural gas plants ](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-23/cost-to-build-natural-gas-fired-power-plant-surges-66-bnef-says)has soared in recent years and a shortage of turbines is delaying construction, while coal remains one of the [most expensive](https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Coal-Cost-Update.pdf) and dirtiest ways to generate power. To put it simply: **Blocking cheap, clean energy while doubling down on outdated fossil fuels makes no economic or environmental sense.**

The attacks on clean energy are not only raising our electricity bills, but they are unleashing more pollution in our water and air, killing thousands of jobs and making our electric grid weaker. **Here are major ways the Trump administration is obstructing clean energy – and how EDF and allies have been fighting back:**

### **A never-ending barrage of attacks on wind energy**

Since re-taking office, the Trump administration has gone to extraordinary lengths to kneecap wind energy – which already [provides](https://windexchange.energy.gov/what-is-wind) 10% of U.S. power and has the potential to grow substantially in the years ahead. **Many of these efforts have not survived legal challenges.** Judges have struck down the Trump administration’s [broad blockade on federal permitting for wind projects](https://www.edf.org/media/court-strikes-down-trump-administrations-reckless-wind-energy-permitting-ban), as well as [five stop-work orders](https://www.edf.org/media/courts-strike-down-all-five-stop-work-orders-offshore-wind-projects) from the administration that halted the construction of major offshore wind projects on the East Coast.

In an attempt to circumvent the courts, the administration has resorted to paying energy companies over [**$2.5 billion in taxpayer dollars**](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/10/bills-trump-clean-energy-coal) **to walk away from their planned offshore wind projects** – abandoning leases off the coasts of North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Maine and California. These [unprecedented, wasteful pay-outs](https://www.edf.org/media/trump-administration-announces-1b-deal-stop-offshore-wind-threatening-affordable-power) come as demand for power is expected to rise drastically, despite offshore wind’s ability to provide cost-stable clean power and reduce our reliance on polluting fossil fuels with unpredictable costs.

Although there are strong headwinds facing offshore wind in the U.S., recently completed projects are proving their value. South Fork Wind off the coast of New York – the first commercial scale offshore wind project in the U.S. – generated electricity [**across 90 percent of all hours**](https://us.orsted.com/renewable-energy-solutions/offshore-wind/south-fork-wind-report) **in its first year of operation.** The just-completed Vineyard Wind project will **save Massachusetts customers a projected** [**$1.4 billion**](https://www.mass.gov/news/vineyard-wind-contracts-lower-electricity-prices-for-massachusetts-customers) **on electricity bills** over the next 20 years.

Notably though, it’s not just *offshore* wind that’s being targeted by the Trump administration. The Department of Defense is [currently freezing routine permits](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/climate/wind-power-delays-trump-pentagon.html?eafs_enabled=false) for over 100 wind projects on land – holding up low-cost power for millions of Americans – and jeopardizing billions in investment.

**What’s next?** There are still several lawsuits to watch in this space:

- Renewable energy groups, public interest organizations including EDF and [19 states](https://www.renewableenergymagazine.com/wind/ags-from-19-states-and-dc-join-20260727) are [challenging the Department of Defense](https://www.edf.org/media/environmental-groups-back-lawsuit-against-department-defense-freeze-wind-energy-projects) over its permit freeze.
- Seven states [filed a lawsuit ](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/02/lawsuit-trump-administration-windfarm-leases)against the Trump administration over the March 2026 payout to cancel two offshore wind projects off the coast of New York & New Jersey and North Carolina.
- California also [filed two notices of intent](https://www.edf.org/media/california-sends-notice-intent-challenge-trump-administrations-offshore-wind-buyout) to sue the Trump administration over major offshore wind projects off the central coast.

### **Burying solar and wind projects on federal lands in red tape**

In another attempt to slam the brakes on clean energy, the Department of the Interior added new procedural roadblocks to wind and solar projects on federal lands, which have the potential to provide [**12.5% of the nation’s renewable power**](https://www.energy.gov/articles/new-interagency-study-finds-further-expansion-renewable-energy-production-federal-lands#:~:text=Only%204%25%20(8.9%20GW),be%20deployed%20on%20federal%20lands.) in the next decade.

In July 2025, Interior [**instituted an impossible review process**](https://www.eenews.net/articles/interior-directive-burgum-must-sign-off-on-all-solar-wind-projects/) for approving wind and solar projects specifically – including requiring the *personal sign-off* of the Interior Secretary. In addition to projects on federal lands, it impacted projects being developed on private land that needed to cross federal land to bring equipment to project sites or to connect to the electric grid.

In April 2026, a District Court temporarily [**blocked this suite of actions**](https://www.edf.org/media/court-blocks-trump-administrations-ban-clean-affordable-energy) because of a lawsuit filed by nine renewable energy groups, with support from public interest groups including EDF. The ruling is just one example of how the Trump administration has been taking a two-tiered approach to energy permitting: **While officials have tried to unfairly delay and cancel clean energy projects at every turn, they have rolled out ‘**[**concierge, white-glove service**](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/10/07/white-house-fossil-fuel-concierge/)**’ for coal and other polluting fossil fuels.**

**What’s next?** The administration is [appealing the preliminary injunction that blocks Interior’s actions](https://www.eenews.net/articles/trump-admin-fights-its-court-loss-on-anti-renewable-energy-policies/), but it remains in place for now. Once the appeals court rules on the appeal, the district court will consider whether to make the injunction permanent.

### **Gutting vital clean energy tax credits and grants**

A major law Congress passed last year [took a sledgehammer to the clean energy tax credits](https://www.edf.org/one-year-later-law-puts-us-more-expensive-dangerous-and-harmful-path) that have fueled record growth in wind, solar and battery storage projects across the country. The law dramatically shortened the window for developers to qualify for these credits: To be eligible, projects must either begin construction by July 4, 2026, or be placed in service by December 31, 2027.

By creating an accelerated timeline, **the law undermines the long-term certainty companies rely on when making major energy investments.** The situation became even more uncertain when the Trump administration attempted to reinterpret the law in a way that would make it harder for renewable energy projects to qualify for the credits, throwing out the long-standing provision that allowed developers to qualify if they had invested 5% of a projects total cost. In June 2026, **a federal court** [**overturned this Trump administration guidance**](https://www.edf.org/media/court-overturns-trump-irs-guidance-targeted-clean-energy-projects), ruling against an effort that would have unfairly restricted access to the credits for clean energy projects. The case was brought by a coalition of public groups, energy providers as well as a local government.

Beyond gutting the tax credits, the administration is **axing billions in energy grants already appropriated by Congress**. In one such instance, the Department of Energy and Office of Management and Budget cancelled grants for [**over 300 projects meant to expand clean, affordable energy solutions**](https://www.edf.org/media/groups-sue-administration-targeted-unconstitutional-cancellation-federal-funding-projects) – every single one of which was based in a state that voted for the Democratic candidate in the 2024 election. A coalition including a Midwestern city, EDF, and other energy and environmental organizations sued, and in January 2026, a [judge ruled](https://www.edf.org/media/court-rules-trump-doe-violated-constitution-when-it-cancelled-clean-energy-funding-specific) that the Trump administration violated the Constitution’s equal protection requirements in cancelling the grants based solely on politics. The court vacated the government’s cancellation of the grants associated with the organizations that had sued, enabling millions of dollars in clean energy investments to move forward. [Documents in another case](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/business/trump-state-grants-canceled.html?partner=slack&smid=sl-share) recently confirmed, in greater detail, that federal officials indeed cancelled energy grants in certain states “based solely” on whether they backed President Trump in the 2024 election.

**What’s next?** Despite new barriers, solar, wind and battery storage are [still leading new power additions](https://www.edf.org/media/us-saw-record-new-clean-power-capacity-last-year-spite-delays-cancellations), and are expected to surge through the end of the decade, according to [Rhodium’s latest Taking Stock report](https://rhg.com/research/taking-stock-2026/), as developers rush to claim tax credits before they fully expire. However, clean energy deployment becomes much more uncertain post-2030 when power demand is still expected to climb.

Meanwhile, other court cases challenging politically motivated funding cancellations are moving forward, building on the ruling EDF and partners obtained earlier this year establishing a precedent reaching the full $7.6 billion investment in clean energy projects.

### **Keeping retiring fossil fuel plants on life support**

For more than a year now, the Trump administration has been intervening to keep aging fossil fuel plants running long past their planned retirement dates, while directing **more than $1 billion in taxpayer dollars to coal power** – an industry that has been steadily losing ground to cheaper renewable energy and natural gas for well over a decade.

The Department of Energy has issued **unlawful “emergency orders” to keep six coal plants and one oil-and-gas plant operating** in Michigan, Indiana, Colorado, Washington, Florida and Pennsylvania. These orders were issued despite a lack of evidence from grid operators that an energy emergency even exists and despite years of planning by utilities and state regulators to replace these aging facilities with cleaner and lower-cost energy. States and public interest groups including EDF [have challenged the orders in court](https://www.edf.org/media/groups-challenge-department-energys-illegal-orlando-area-coal-plant-extension), arguing that the administration is abusing emergency authorities to keep uneconomic fossil fuel plants online long-term.

The high costs of forcing these aging plants to remain operational are already clear: **Keeping Michigan’s J.H. Campbell coal plant on life support has already** [**resulted in over $180 million in losses**](https://www.edf.org/media/midwestern-families-hook-180-million-keep-michigan-coal-plant-open-under-trump) – **roughly $600,000 per day** – with those costs ultimately passed on to utility customers across 11 Midwestern states.

Many of the coal plants that the Department of Energy has illegally forced to stay open have **ended up failing** (the [Craig coal plant in Colorado](https://www.utilitydive.com/news/doe-colorado-coal-craig-tristate/808849/); [two Schafer units in Indiana](https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/fossil-fuels/indiana-coal-plant-trump-stay-open)) **or haven’t been on called on to run at all** (the [Centralia coal plant in Washington](https://www.edf.org/media/trump-administration-issues-third-mandate-forcing-washingtons-last-coal-plant-stay-open)). These problems are not unusual. Coal plants experience [more forced outages](https://heatmap.news/energy/coal-reliability) than any other major power source U.S.

Intervening to keep these ancient plants running is just [one of the myriad ways the Trump administration is propping up coal](https://www.edf.org/media/trump-epa-administrator-coal-executives-many-items-were-your-wish-list-are-now-done) at the expense of people’s health and wallets – from rolling back life-saving pollution protections to shoveling money into building extraordinarily expensive new coal plants. Recently, at a National Coal Council meeting, the EPA administrator openly gloated about completing many of the coal industry’s **“**[**wish list**](https://www.youtube.com/live/H-gsraMq-dY?t=1120s)**.”**

**What’s next?** In May 2026, a panel of judges on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments [in a case challenging the emergency order that kept Michigan’s Campbell coal plant operating](https://www.edf.org/media/court-hear-legal-challenge-trump-administration-mandates-coal-fired-power-plants-increase). The lawsuit was brought by the states of Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois, along with EDF and eight other public interest organizations.

Although the case centers on the Michigan coal plant, the ruling may determine whether the administration can continue using emergency powers to keep other aging, costly and unreliable fossil fuel plants operating beyond their retirement.