solar power

Owen Henry, standing on the roof of his Baltimore rowhome, painted his roof white in 2023 so he could help cool the home and save on energy costs. It worked, he says, reducing electricity use by 24%.

This little-known ‘dark roof’ lobby may be making your city hotter

As cities heat up, reflective roofs could lower energy bills and help the climate. But dark roofing manufacturers are waging a quiet campaign to block new rules.

Workers install solar panels on the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility in Gaithersburg, Md. Funding that had been frozen for Solar for All, a federally funded program to provide rooftop and community solar to low-income residents, has now resumed, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said. (Photo courtesy of NIST)

Coastal Desk

‘Solar for Y’all’ faces hazy future in Louisiana

Elise Plunk (Louisiana Illuminator)

The future of millions of dollars in funding to help low-income Louisiana residents access solar energy has grown increasingly uncertain as the Trump administration attempts to slash grant programs awarded under its predecessor.

A Floodlight review of campaign donations in nine of the 10 states that elect their public service commissioners found that fossil fuel interests, power companies and related groups have given about $13.5 million to elect their preferred state energy regulators in the past decade — about 35% of all donations $250 and above.

Coastal Desk

Utility regulators take millions from industries they oversee. What could go wrong?

Mario Alejandro Ariza, Floodlight

The clean energy transition, for one, a Floodlight analysis of campaign finance data reveals.