But in six short months, President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress have shut down or imperiled many of these initiatives. The Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, an initiative established by the 2021 infrastructure law that Enfield hoped to tap for funding, is kaput for the time being.
“That was the best one,” Nick Jimenez, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said with a sigh. “That could have done the grid plus solar.”
After Trump signed the budget bill into law July 4 and issued a subsequent executive order July 7, tax incentives are now sharply curtailed. Credits for home rooftop solar and energy-efficiency upgrades will dry up at year’s end.
“A fair number of our colleagues in Washington see just ink on paper,” said Rep. Rodney Pierce, a Democrat who represents Halifax County in the North Carolina House. “It’s not just letters and numbers. These are people. These are families, communities. It’s disappointing,” he said at the gathering last month.
At the same time, Pierce acknowledged, skepticism about clean energy has grown among state politicians. A bill to ratchet down local tax incentives for solar farms has cleared two committees in the state House. Another measure would eliminate an interim target for utility Duke Energy to curb its carbon emissions, removing a key driver for clean energy. The GOP-run General Assembly could yet enact the legislation, Senate Bill 266, by overriding the veto of Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat.
Both Black men in their mid-40s, Pierce and Robinson attended rival public high schools in the county, the state legislator said. Both are quick to link the quest for clean energy to the ongoing struggle for civil rights and economic justice.
“Those of us who grew up in persistently impoverished counties like Halifax — we can ill afford to be reticent to encouraging and exploring other sources of energy,” said Pierce, who voted against SB 266. “That’s why I’m out here. I count Mayor Robinson as a friend.”
To be sure, some remnants of Biden-era climate funding have slipped through the grasp of Trump and his allies in the GOP.
A multimillion-dollar grant for grid improvements deployed to the state thanks to the infrastructure law could yet help Enfield upgrade its aging substation and low-capacity power lines. “That hasn’t been targeted yet,” Jimenez said of the program.
Funding for EnergizeNC, meant to help develop rooftop and community solar in low-income areas like Enfield, is also intact. So are rebates designed to help households buy more efficient appliances and perform other upgrades to save energy. Indeed, because of its atrocious energy burden, Halifax County was among the first two counties to access the Energy Saver North Carolina program when it launched early this year.
That’s why Enfield leaders and their allies are focused on affordable, energy-efficient housing and the weatherization hub, for now.
“This was always going to be about what we could get from philanthropy and what the mayor could marshal up from his resources,” said William Munn, regional director of the Carolinas for advocacy group Vote Solar. “We think now, given the federal situation, this is probably the most likely thing we can get done as quickly as possible.”
Robinson bought the home on South McDaniel Street earlier this year for $32,500. For another $100,000 or so, Munn believes it can be upfitted and ready to serve.
“The sooner the money comes in, the faster it gets done,” he said. “We believe this is a small enough project that, once this is done, we can market it and keep pitching it. We want to send the message that this is just the beginning.”
Robinson has high hopes for the hub’s completion. “We’re at a point now where we need people to start seeing that this thing is not 12 years away, two years away, or even a year away,” he said. “With a little investment, this thing could be done by the end of the summer.”
