Cardinal & Pine by Michael McElroy

The Trump administration’s freeze on federal spending will cost North Carolina more than $1.3 billion in investments that drive the state’s clean energy sector, protect the electrical grid from natural disasters, and help residents pay for increased energy costs, a new analysis shows. 

The analysis, released by Congressional Democrats, details the total cost, state by state, of Trump’s wide-ranging spending freeze, which affects existing grants and other payments already approved by Congress. 

A federal judge has blocked several aspects of the freeze from going into effect, but Trump has defied, delayed, or sought ways around those orders, disrupting industries and programs where even a temporary halt to funding can cause lasting damage. 

Even if the current attempt to end the spending is overturned in the courts, the administration is likely to try to kill these programs in a way the courts will allow.

Part of the spending freeze includes nearly $300 million in rebates to help NC families lower their energy costs and make their homes more energy efficient. 

“By continuing to steal Department of Energy (DOE) funds promised to help families pay their energy bills, the Trump Administration is not only hurting the middle class, it continues to violate recent court orders,” the Congressional Democrats said in a press release.

Here’s some of the funding North Carolina stands to lose if the freeze continues:

• $209 million from a home energy rebate program.
• $90 million from a program that helps low-income families weatherize their homes against the cold and heat.
• $160 million in payments to protect the state’s power grid from wildfires, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. 
• $723 million in incentives to lithium battery manufacturing plants, cuts that could imperil North Carolina’s status as a national leader in clean energy and which could disrupt a bipartisan investment that has contributed to more than 175,000 new jobs and brought more than $20 billion to the state.

And this analysis only includes grants and funding approved through the US Department of Energy. The total does not include the funding through the Environmental Protection Agency and other departments that help North Carolina fight climate change, reduce energy costs, and drive economic development.

Last April, then-Gov. Roy Cooper announced a $156 million grant from the EPA to help families across the state gain access to solar power, another booming industry in the state.

“North Carolina continues to lead the way toward a clean energy future and we are grateful to be selected by the EPA for this groundbreaking grant program,” Cooper said at the time. “This funding will help cut energy costs and help families across North Carolina live cleaner and healthier lives.”

That funding, the Trump administration announced in its rounds of freezes, is being cut off.

Trump also issued an executive order suspending all future offshore wind projects, a move that could kill a nascent but growing industry in North Carolina. 

US Rep. Deborah Ross, a Democrat who represents Wake County, said in a statement after the cuts were announced that Trump’s policies “[attack] our freedoms, our democracy, our economy, and our environment.”

Ross, who is a ranking member on the House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Energy, said that Trump had already violated his campaign promises.

“President Trump promised to boost our economy and lower costs,” Ross said, but “his order to halt offshore wind energy permitting will have serious consequences for North Carolina’s economy. Our state is leading America’s development of offshore wind energy, which has not only supported our fight for a clean energy future but also bolstered North Carolina’s economy and created thousands of jobs.”

Link to full article: https://cardinalpine.com/2025/02/20/trumps-spending-freezes-could-disrupt-clean-energy-boom-in-nc-and-increase-household-heating-costs/