When Solar Stalls

Alex Rivera 4

Welcome everyone to Digest This: Unpacking Our Sustainable Future. I'm Alex, and Emily is here with me as always. Emily, it's been and interesting start to the week—everyone tuned into the renewable energy world knows the big headline: the EPA just canceled $7 billion in federal funding for the Solar for All program. This was supposed to help almost a million low-income households get access to solar, right?

Emily Nguyen 4

Exactly, Alex. The Solar for All initiative had awarded funds to 60 different recipients. The idea was to bring community solar and rooftop solar directly to families who typically wouldn't have the upfront capital—or even the access—needed to switch. And it's been scrapped, just like that.

Alex Rivera 4

Yeah, it felt abrupt. The EPA says its authority for the program vanished after the new tax-and-spend law passed under President Trump. They basically ended the entire $7 billion program, saying the agency doesn't have authority to keep it afloat.

Emily Nguyen 4

That being said, the current administration is taking the stance that this is going to free up federal resources to vet and prioritize energy projects that are "affordable, reliable, and dispatchable", opposed to bogging down the system with projects that depend heavily on “foreign-controlled” supply chains and have years of local permitting and material procurement issues to sort through. They are saying this supports energy dominance, economic growth, and the nation’s fiscal health.

Alex Rivera 4

Well Emily, I think the question is, how are current projects going to pivot from here?

Emily Nguyen 4

It’s tough, because, most of these projects were just gearing up. Grant recipients said almost everyone was still in the planning phase since only $53 million out of that $7 billion had actually been spent. So, the rug gets pulled before real implementation even starts. And there are still open questions on whether any of those plans can adapt or if recipients have to scrap everything and start from scratch somewhere else.

Alex Rivera 4

Now, pivoting a bit—we’ve got the picture of solar hitting pause at the federal level, but there's another renewable player that's actually accelerating lately and it happens to be our specialty: renewable natural gas, or RNG. I’m not saying RNG is going to entirely fill the void left by solar, but the latest American Gas Foundation report? It's pretty striking. U.S. biomass supply for RNG—is up 17% since 2019. It could now meet the needs of every U.S. household that uses natural gas, at least for heating and cooking. That’s not small potatoes.

Emily Nguyen 4

It’s big, Alex. And what people love about RNG—especially utilities and policymakers—is that it uses the existing pipeline system. No waiting years to build a whole new energy infrastructure from the ground up. I mean, installing new electric infrastructure—think transformers, new lines, storage solutions for solar and wind—often runs into bottlenecks and costs. With RNG, you can inject it directly into the current natural gas grid. It’s just more flexible.

Alex Rivera 4

And the storage angle is huge, right? RNG can actually be stored and dispatched—so you’re not at the mercy of whether the sun’s shining or the wind’s blowing. I always get a little nerdy about this, but it matters. Solar is amazing, but the variability and need for batteries or grid upgrades can really limit it in some regions. RNG helps smooth out some of those bumps. But, there are still tradeoffs, aren’t there? RNG production costs are usually higher, and greenhouse gas reductions depend a lot on the feedstock source and how it’s managed.

Emily Nguyen 4

Exactly. According to the analysis, RNG could be produced for a median of $20 per MMBTU, which is higher than traditional natural gas. But when you factor in the lower infrastructure costs and the emissions reductions—sometimes at a third or even a tenth the cost per ton compared to electrification—RNG starts looking pretty attractive, at least in certain regions or sectors. And, obviously, RNG alone isn’t going to decarbonize every part of the economy. We need a mix.

Emily Nguyen 4

Speaking of mixes, let's dive into what’s happening at the utility level, because the Southeast is making some real moves with RNG. Two Southern Company Gas subsidiaries—Virginia Natural Gas and Chattanooga Gas—just completed new RNG purchase agreements. Think about this: the emissions saved are estimated at nearly 19,000 metric tons of CO₂ equivalents. That’s not a hand-wave; that’s measurable progress.

Alex Rivera 4

What’s fascinating to me is how these utilities just snap new solutions onto decades-old natural gas networks. They’re buying up environmental resources from RNG facilities—landfills, wastewater, ag waste in Texas—then blending that gas right into their pipes. Customers don’t really see a difference in how their fuel burns at home or work, but the upstream emissions impact is dramatically different.

Emily Nguyen 4

Right, and it's working partly because of state policy support. In Virginia, they’ve got the Energy Innovation Act and a Sustainable Gas Program—these push and allow utilities to produce and deliver RNG. Tennessee has similar incentives for innovation, letting utilities reflect these new cleaner costs in gas rates. Plus, they’re working with local partners, like Hampton Roads Sanitation District, to get new RNG plants up and running. That collaboration is exactly what we saw enable rapid progress in earlier episodes.

Alex Rivera 4

Yeah, totally. It circles back to what we always say: you need that alignment between policy, utility business models, and local project developers. These kinds of partnerships are how changes get legs, not just headlines. The Southeast is proving that existing infrastructure—old pipes!—can actually be powerful bridges to a cleaner system instead of obstacles.

Emily Nguyen 4

I’d love to see even more data come out around RNG at scale, and I'm sure we will. We’ll dig into that in future episodes for sure.

Alex Rivera 4

Alright, so let's zoom out for a second. You’ve got solar stalling—at least at the federal funding level—and RNG is accelerating, especially in the Southeast. The American Gas Association’s latest comparison underlines that, on a cost-per-ton basis, RNG can be more affordable for emissions reductions than electric-only homes, though solar’s direct energy costs remain among the lowest when you include all public incentives and deployment at scale. Is this diversification, Emily, or a shift in what “clean energy” means in the U.S. right now?

Emily Nguyen 4

Oh, it’s definitely diversification. I don’t see RNG replacing solar or wind, just like we talked about with microgrids or biogas in earlier episodes—it’s a portfolio play. The door is also open wider than ever for tech innovation, clearer policies, and cross-industry partnerships to drive the economics further. And let's not ignore the role of the customer—businesses and homeowners want reliability, affordability, and, increasingly, climate responsibility. Keeping all eyes on those evolving needs is what's going to shape where the next dollars flow and which technologies break through.

Alex Rivera 4

I couldn’t agree more. I see RNG being most effective for manufacturing businesses with heat intensive processes. There are still so many manufacturers throughout the U.S. that still have to rely on coal and other fossil fuels as their energy sources. That's were we come in, being an RNG producer that focuses primarily on industrial feedstock sources. It gives us the unique ability to add RNG to the local area surrounding our facilities and our industrial feedstock partners. If there’s one thing our past 19 episodes have shown, it’s that momentum in renewables doesn’t just switch off—it finds a new path. For businesses, this means looking for cost-effective, reliable opportunities to decarbonize with the resources already in motion like our build-own-operate facilities. For households, it’s about staying flexible, watching policy signals, and maybe getting ready for some new tech in their energy mix—whether that’s community solar or RNG delivered through the same pipes as always.

Emily Nguyen 4

And with so much up in the air on federal policy, keeping track of state and utility efforts seems more important than ever. We’ll keep covering all of that right here, episode by episode, as the landscape keeps shifting.

Alex Rivera 4

Alright, Emily, that's a wrap for today. As always, thanks for tuning in to Digest This—I'm Alex—

Emily Nguyen 4

And I'm Emily. We'll keep unpacking the facts and following the twists and turns. See you next time, Alex.

Alex Rivera 4

See you, Emily. And thanks everyone for listening—don’t forget to subscribe, and we’ll catch you on the next episode!