The president’s executive order to ‘unleash America’s energy’ paused federal grants and loans for clean energy projects for 90 days. Some startups may not survive.
Last year, when an apple orchard in rural Washington State invested in new cold storage equipment, the price was steep—$187,000. The farm had won a USDA grant that was supposed to cover half of the cost of the technology, which is being shipped to the farm now. But after the Trump administration paused spending on energy grants and loans, the farmers are questioning whether they’ll ever be paid back.
The project will save the orchard thousands each year on energy bills, and the benefits extend beyond the orchard itself: The equipment can save 500 megawatt-hours of energy each year, or roughly as much electricity as a million-dollar solar farm could generate. In an area where data centers are proliferating and sucking up power, the energy efficiency could play a meaningful role in supporting the electric grid.
By way of Fast Company