Counterspark

06/16/2026

The Trump administration is putting $700M+ toward coal plants under the banner of “clean, beautiful coal.” But calling it that doesn't change what happens when it burns. It produces soot, mercury, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, fine particle pollution, and toxic ash that has to go somewhere.

Coal’s pollution doesn’t disappear because the label changes. It shows up in lungs, water, cleanup costs, and on bills.

Coal was never clean, it isn’t cost-effective, and it isn’t competitive anymore.

06/16/2026

Illinois has trained people for clean energy jobs. Now federal rollbacks are making it harder for some of those workers to get hired.

A new University of Illinois Climate Jobs Institute report looks at how shortened federal clean energy tax credit timelines are affecting Illinois businesses and workers. It draws on interviews and listening sessions with 169 clean energy employers, workers, training providers, advocates, government officials, and others.

Some clean energy firms have already laid off workers, stopped hiring, or expect layoffs when federal tax credits expire. Smaller contractors and recent workforce program graduates are among the most exposed.

That’s a problem for Illinois. The state has spent years building pathways into clean energy work, including solar installation, construction, energy efficiency, maintenance, and other jobs tied to the clean energy economy.

Those pathways only work if projects keep moving and employers are able to hire.

Illinois can’t replace every federal dollar, but it can reduce the damage. The report points to faster permitting, faster grid connection, bridge financing, clearer state guidance, and stronger support for contractors and workforce programs.

Federal rollbacks created the threat. Illinois still has tools to keep clean energy work moving and protect the workers trained to do it.

06/04/2026

Clean energy gives countries more control over their energy future.

As countries generate more power from domestic resources like wind and solar, they become less dependent on imported fuels and more insulated from global energy price shocks.

The countries building fastest are positioning themselves for greater affordability, reliability, and economic competitiveness.

06/04/2026

New England had to turn to oil-fired power during a heat wave in May, before the hardest part of the season even started.

As temperatures climbed on the 19th and 20th, gas supply was constrained and the region leaned on older backup resources. At one point, oil reportedly produced more than 700 megawatts of electricity, enough to power hundreds of thousands of homes. It came hours after the grid operator declared abnormal conditions.

When demand rises and gas supply is tight, the grid relies on whatever is available, and in New England that often means its oldest, most expensive, most polluting plants. Every battery, clean generation project, efficiency gain, and demand-response resource that comes online gives the region another option to reach for before those oil plants are needed.

More than 8,000 megawatts of solar now shaves the region's peak, shifting the highest-demand hour later into the evening. Over the past year New England has added the New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line, the Vineyard Wind offshore project, and several grid-scale batteries. Each of those is capacity the grid doesn't have to make by burning oil.

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation, which assesses grid reliability across the continent, has already flagged New England as one of three regions facing elevated risk if extreme summer conditions hit. Reliability depends on what gets built ahead of time, not what we wish we had once temperatures spike.

May was early in the year for this. Demand only climbs from here.

06/01/2026

We work on the future for a living. Clean power, a grid that supports communities, and a planet worth handing to whoever comes next.

A future is only worth building if everyone gets to live in it.

This Pride Month, and all year, we're with want to uplift that to explicitly say that it includes the LGBTQ+ community.

Happy Pride.

05/31/2026

Clean energy is already making the grid stronger.

The latest summer reliability assessment found that North America added more than 58.5 GW of new resources heading into this summer, including major additions of solar and battery storage.

That new capacity is crucial as electricity demand rises. Solar adds power to the system. Batteries help when conditions get tight. Together, they give grid operators more resources to work with during high-demand periods.

The assessment still shows some regions facing elevated risk during more extreme summer conditions, so this isn’t the end of the work. But it’s proof that clean energy is worth it.

More clean energy & storage means a stronger, more prepared grid.

05/28/2026

Time is running out for developers to take advantage of tax credits for wind and solar.

Under the federal law passed last July, wind and solar projects have until July 4, 2026 to start construction and preserve the path to federal clean electricity tax credits that make most projects affordable to build.

Projects that start construction after that date generally must be placed in service by the end of 2027 to remain eligible.

That puts huge pressure on projects already moving through permitting, financing, interconnection, procurement, and local approvals.

At a time when electricity demand is rising, policy uncertainty makes it harder to build the affordable, reliable power communities need.

Electing clean energy leadership matters because decisions like this shape if projects make it onto the grid or we miss out on the energy we badly need.

05/28/2026

Wind and solar developers are counting down to a federal tax credit deadline this July 4th.

Most clean energy projects need to break ground by then to qualify for federal tax credits — and be online by the end of 2027 to stay eligible. These dates are the result of Congress shortening the window that projects depend on to get financed and built.

Permits, equipment orders, grid connection approvals, local sign offs, all these take years.

When the policy window shrinks, projects stall or get abandoned. And at a time when electricity demand is climbing, that means less affordable power coming online.

05/27/2026

Wind and solar developers are counting down to a federal tax credit deadline this July 4th.

Most clean energy projects need to break ground by then to qualify for federal tax credits — and be online by the end of 2027 to stay eligible. These dates are the result of Congress shortening the window that projects depend on to get financed and built.

Permits, equipment orders, grid connection approvals, local sign offs, all these take years.

When the policy window shrinks, projects stall or get abandoned. And at a time when electricity demand is climbing, that means less affordable power coming online.

https://seia.org/research-resources/clean-energy-provisions-big-beautiful-bill/

05/26/2026

You've heard the story a thousand times. The temperatures skyrocket in the summer and along with it, everyone's demand for electricity goes up -- to cool the house and the popsicles in the freezer.

This year, you can worry a little less. It's not due to lower temps (they're still expected to be high). It's not due to oil and gas. It's due to more clean energy.

So, breathe a little easier this summer (both literally due to cleaner energy causing less pollution than other forms and figuratively due to a better grid, improved by clean energy).

Nationwide grid reliability has improved since last summer — and new solar and batteries, not aging coal plants, are the main reason.