Energy & Sustainability

This month’s update compares the House and Senate versions of the reconciliation bill for energy and critical minerals, and covers staffing projections for the DOE and the fate of certain energy tax incentives.

House Republicans advanced their sweeping reconciliation package amid a flurry of activity across the executive branch, with President Trump issuing executive orders to bolster the US nuclear sector.

Our May 2025 Energy & Sustainability Washington Update highlights the first 100 days of the Trump administration, including staffing cuts at DOE, EPA, FERC, and DOI, accelerated permitting changes, early reconciliation negotiations, and the uncertain future of IRA energy tax credits.

Our March 2025 Energy & Sustainability Washington Update highlights federal energy policy developments in February. These include Trump administration executive orders, policy shifts, regulatory overhauls, and permitting changes, as well as federal layoffs and congressional developments.

Our February 2025 Energy & Sustainability Washington Update highlights the latest energy policy moves by the Trump administration and provides insights into President Trump’s executive orders, the advancement of Trump’s cabinet picks, and potential energy proposals that may make it into the budget reconciliation process.

Our January 2025 Energy & Sustainability Washington Update highlights congressional leadership assignments, new legislative initiatives, and updates on DOE’s LNG export pause, Inflation Reduction Act tax credit guidance, and emerging funding opportunities.

Read about the outlook for energy policy in light of Trump’s recent nominations and the composition of the incoming Congress. Topics include the fate of the IRA, the prospects for energy project permitting reform, and areas of bipartisan support.

Our December 2024 Energy & Sustainability Washington Update covers Trump’s cabinet picks, recent agency actions, legislative developments, requests for information, notices, and funding opportunity announcements focused on or impacting the energy sector.

Our November 2024 Energy & Sustainability Washington Update highlights new energy-related programs and announcements from DOD, DOE, and other agencies, covers energy-related bills recently introduced in Congress, and recaps significant news about the sector.

Our October 2024 Energy & Sustainability Washington Update covers the newly launched Environmental Justice Climate Corps Program, DOE’s 2024 Better Buildings Initiative progress report, energy bills recently passed in the House of Representatives, a Senate hearing on the DOE’s role in advanced computing research & technology, a DOE funding opportunity for wave energy, and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and IRA opportunities.

Read about how the outcome of the presidential election could impact energy and sustainability policy in the inaugural edition of our 2024 Pre-Election Analysis series on how the November 2024 election will impact the legislative and regulatory landscape in a variety of areas.

Our August Energy & Sustainability Washington Update covers the new bipartisan Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, the introduction of the DOE’s AI Act to advance American leadership and Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence for Science, Security, and Technology (FASST) initiative, a funding opportunity for solar and battery storage in Puerto Rico, and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and IRA opportunities.

Read about President Biden’s recent withdrawal from the 2024 presidential election and his endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee, including her stance on technology, climate change, health care, and tax policy.

Our July 2024 Energy & Sustainability Washington Update covers the IRS’s final rules on wage and registered apprenticeships at clean energy projects, the new set of supply chain cybersecurity principles released by the DOE, upcoming funding opportunities for small modular reactor technologies and methane emissions reduction, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and IRA opportunities.

Our June 2024 Energy & Sustainability Washington Update covers the IRA’s $8.8 billion Home Energy Rebates program, the Treasury’s guidance on Advanced Energy Project Tax Credits, new federal opportunities related to transmission expansion and critical minerals, hot EPA issues, and new Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and IRA opportunities.

Read about the Home Efficiency Rebates (HOMES) and Home Electrification Rebates (HEEHRA) programs and their significance for homeowners and businesses.

Our May 2024 Energy & Sustainability Washington Update covers several DOE developments, including a final rule setting new clean energy targets for federal buildings, a report addressing commercialization of offshore wind, and a simplified NEPA process for some projects, plus final EPA rules aimed at cutting pollution from fossil fuel–fired power plants and $54 million in federal funding for electric mobility.

As part of the Healey–Driscoll administration’s continued efforts to ensure Massachusetts remains a state where people want to live, work, and raise families — and businesses want to start and operate companies — the administration announced the proposed Mass Leads Act earlier today. The proposed law calls for investments of $1 billion each in the life sciences and climate tech industries over a 10-year period, with the latter category of funding providing critically important support to the administration’s goal of making Massachusetts the global leader in climate tech and clean energy development.