Federal spending freeze felt across energy projects

Although two court orders have ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze funding for federal grants, a list of impacted initiatives reveals that all but one Inflation Reduction Act grant program remained frozen, as of Wednesday. The list includes the Clean School Bus Program. “We can’t access these funds, so we don’t want to put them in a situation where they’ve signed a contract or even spent money and can’t get this back from the federal government,” commented Kirsten Stasio, chief executive of the Nevada Clean Energy Fund (NCEF), a state-created nonprofit and green bank. The Clean School Bus grant is intended to benefit rural districts that can’t afford to replace their aging buses, which she said are “literally running into the ground.” Stasio said her group told school districts to hold off on planning those purchases, adding: “[W]e don’t want to put them in a situation where they’ve signed a contract or even spent money and can’t get this back from the federal government.” However Michelle Moore, CEO of fellow nonprofit Groundswell, said she expects that the federal government will unfreeze funding after the administration has time to review how it fits into Trump’s policy agenda. “The federal freeze doesn’t mean that you don’t have to do the work. It just means that the federal government isn’t reimbursing you right now,” she added.