Evolving U.S. Energy Policy: Trump Administration's Promotion Of Oil, Natural Gas, Coal And Nuclear Power And Proposed Legislation Affecting Renewable Energy Tax Incentives

KEY POINTS:

• President Trump has issued a series of Executive Orders ("EOs") intended to encourage U.S. oil, natural gas and coal production and the growth of the U.S. nuclear energy industry by seeking to overhaul regulations and speed up licenses.
• Since President Trump took office in 2025, the U.S. Department of Energy ("DOE") has taken a series of actions to promote the U.S. production of coal potentially through various federal support programs, including those under the DOE's loan authority. In addition, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") has taken action to reduce regulatory barriers and speed up the construction of natural gas infrastructure projects in the U.S.
• In contrast, recent legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in May 2025, and now under consideration by the U.S. Senate, would reduce tax credits for solar, wind, hydrogen and other renewable energy sources.

1. INTRODUCTION

This client alert summarizes (1) the recent EOs seeking to bolster the oil, gas, coal and nuclear energy industries, (2) recent orders issued by the DOE and actions by FERC to promote the U.S. production of coal and expedite natural gas infrastructure projects in the U.S., respectively, and (3) the impact on renewable energy tax credits of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as passed by the House of Representatives in May 2025 and now under Senate consideration.

2. EXECUTIVE ORDERS ON OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION:

On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed a series of EOs, three of which directly impact the oil and gas industry (the "Oil/Gas EOs"). These are (i) Unleashing Alaska's Extraordinary Resource Potential, (ii) Unleashing American Energy, and (iii) Declaring a National Energy Emergency. Below is a summary of the key provisions of each Oil/Gas EO.

• EO 14153¹ – Unleashing Alaska's Extraordinary Resource Potential: The first of these Oil/Gas EOs lifts restrictions on oil and gas development in Alaska imposed by the previous administration. Key measures include:
  • Reinstating leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) that had been canceled by the Biden Administration.
  • Opening additional areas in Alaska to oil and gas development.
  • Accelerating the permitting of infrastructure for Alaska's liquefied natural gas ("LNG") export projects.
• EO 14154² – Unleashing American Energy: This second Oil/Gas EO reverses provisions that sought to advance clean energy deployment included in past EOs issued during the Biden administration. These Biden-era orders are EO 14052 (Implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (the "Jobs Act")) and EO 14082 (Implementation of the Energy and Infrastructure Provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the "IRA")). This Oil/Gas EO:
  • Directs federal agencies to pause the disbursement of funds under the Jobs Act and the IRA for various clean energy initiatives, including electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
  • Requires all federal agencies to identify and begin rolling back agency actions (including regulations, guidance, policies, and enforcement actions) that impose what the EO characterizes as "undue burdens" on the development of domestic energy resources, including oil, natural gas, coal, hydropower, biofuels, critical minerals, and nuclear energy.
  • Directs the Secretary of Energy to restart reviews of applications for approvals of LNG export projects as expeditiously as possible.
  • Directs the Administrator of the Maritime Administration to determine, within 30 days of the issuance of the EO, whether refinements to proposed deepwater LNG export ports are likely to result in adverse environmental consequences—thereby supporting favorable records of decision for these projects.
• EO 14156³ – Unleashing American Energy: The third Oil/Gas EO declares a national emergency related to energy production and authorizes broad emergency powers to increase domestic energy supply. To that end, it empowers the DOE to exercise emergency authority over energy production and distribution. Further, it requires agency coordination and seeks regulatory relief by directing all executive departments and agencies to, among other things, (i) take immediate steps to support domestic energy production, (ii) issue emergency waivers to bypass regulatory bottlenecks, and (iii) expedite permitting for projects on federal land.

3. EXECUTIVE ORDER ON COAL PRODUCTION:

On April 8, 2025, President Trump signed EO 14261,⁴ "Reinvigorating America's Beautiful Clean Coal Industry and Amending Executive Order 14241," (the "Coal EO"). The Coal EO is intended to support a shift from the previous administration's U.S. federal energy strategy by stating a policy that coal is essential to U.S. national and economic security and mobilizing federal agencies to support the coal industry. To that end, the Coal EO supports the increased mining and use of American coal as an energy source both to power artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and to revitalize the domestic manufacturing industry. The key provisions of the Coal EO are summarized below.

• Removing Federal Regulatory Barriers for the Use of Coal: The Coal EO sets goals for federal agencies to remove financial and regulatory barriers to the mining and use of coal. To this end, the Coal EO requires such federal agencies to, among other things:
  • Revise or rescind any guidance, regulations, programs, and policies within their respective executive department or agency that seek to transition the U.S. away from coal production and electricity generation.
  • Bolster investment in coal production and coal-fired electricity generation through loan guarantees, grants, and equity investments by taking steps to rescind any policies or regulations that discourage investment in coal production and coal-fired electricity generation.
  • Identify coal-rich areas on federal lands, remove barriers to mining on federal lands and propose actions to prioritize coal leasing and expediting permits and environmental reviews related to such mining and leasing activities.
• Reclassifying Coal as a Strategic National Asset: The Coal EO requires the Chair of the National Energy Dominance Council to reclassify coal as a "mineral" under the previous EO 14241. This reclassification entitles coal to federal support programs, including those under the DOE's loan authority and the Defense Production Act Fund.
• Positioning Coal as an Important Energy Source for Developing Industries: The Coal EO requires the Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Energy to identify regions of the country where coal-powered infrastructure is available and suitable for supporting AI data centers. The order also calls for accelerated development of coal technologies and commercial applications, including advanced manufacturing of coal-derived materials for batteries and construction.

4. DOE ACTIONS ON COAL PRODUCTION

Following the Coal EO issuance, the DOE took additional actions to promote the U.S. production of coal. On April 8, 2025, the DOE Secretary acted to:

• Direct the DOE's Loan Program Office's Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) Program to make available $200 billion of low-cost, long-term financing available to invest in energy infrastructure, including coal.
• Direct the DOE to reinstate the National Coal Council, a 50-member body appointed by the Secretary that provides expert guidance on the future of coal technologies and markets, as a federal advisory committee.
• Recommend, in coordination with the Department of the Interior, the designation of coal used in steelmaking as both a critical material and a critical mineral.
• Direct the deployment of mineral extraction technology from coal ash by the DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory.
• Support commercialization efforts of coal ash conversion technologies through partnerships with DOE's National Laboratories and emerging companies.

Following these April orders, on May 23, 2025, the DOE Secretary designated coal used in steel production as a "critical material" under the Energy Act of 2020, aligning with President Trump's Coal EO.

• The designation reflects the Trump Administration's efforts to have coal play an essential role in U.S. steelmaking, manufacturing, infrastructure, and energy security.
• The DOE's analysis concluded that metallurgical coal meets the statutory criteria due to its unique properties and domestic supply chain vulnerabilities.
• This designation is intended to strengthen the resilience of U.S. supply chains, support domestic industry, and reinforce steel's foundational role in sectors ranging from defense and transportation to energy.

5. EXECUTIVE ORDERS ON NUCLEAR PRODUCTION:

On May 23, 2025, President Trump signed four new EOs to encourage nuclear energy production (the "Nuclear EOs"). These are (i) Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, (ii) Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy, (iii) Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base, and (iv) an order focused on Nuclear Energy for National Security. The Nuclear EOs state a goal to quadruple U.S. nuclear power capacity by 2050. The key points of the Nuclear EOs are summarized below.

• EO 14300⁵ – Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission: The first of these Nuclear EOs directs the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ("NRC") to work with other executive departments and agencies and undertake a review and wholesale revision of its regulations and guidance documents and issue notices of proposed rulemaking effecting this revision. Final rules and guidance to conclude this revision process are to be issued by November 2026. In particular, the NRC is expected to, among other things:
  • Establish fixed deadlines for its evaluation and approval of licenses, license amendments, license renewals, certificates of compliance, power uprates, license transfers, and any other activity requested by a licensee or potential licensee.
  • Adopt science-based radiation limits, including reconsidering its reliance on the "as low as reasonably achievable" standard, which is predicated on the linear no-threshold (LNT) model for radiation exposure.
  • Expedite the approval of reactor designs and establish a process for high-volume licensing of microreactors and modular reactors.
  • Establish stringent thresholds for demanding changes to reactor design once construction is underway and revise reactor security rules and requirements to reduce unnecessary burdens and be responsive to credible risks.
  • Streamline the public hearings process and reconsider the regulations to extend the period for which renewed licenses remain effective, based on available technological and safety data.
• EO 14301⁶ – Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the Department of Energy: This second Nuclear EO seeks to reduce the NRC's role in deploying new reactor designs while increasing the DOE's role in this process. This order specifically directs the DOE to implement reforms to reactor testing processes, including:
  • Reforming the National Laboratory Process for reactor testing by requiring the Secretary of Energy to (i) within 60 days of the order, issue guidance regarding what counts as a qualified test reactor, (ii) within 90 days of the order, revise the regulations, guidance, and procedures and practices of the DOE to expedite the review, approval, and deployment of advanced reactors to two years following the submission of a substantially complete application, (iii) establish a team of representatives from the Secretary's office and other agencies to provide assistance to an applicant, ensuring expeditious processing of its application, and (iv) prioritize processing of qualified test reactor projects.
  • Creating a pilot program for reactor construction and operation outside the National Laboratories, pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act's authorization of reactors under the DOE's control and seek to approve at least three reactors pursuant to this pilot program with the goal of achieving criticality in each of the three reactors by July 4, 2026.
  • Reforming the DOE's rules governing compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) while seeking to eliminate or expedite the DOE's environmental reviews for authorizations, permits, approvals, leases, and any other activity requested by an applicant or potential applicant.
• EO 14302⁷ – Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base: Under this Nuclear EO, the Trump Administration is seeking to strengthen the U.S. domestic nuclear fuel supply chain in connection with energy independence goals, national security policy and advanced reactor deployment. This would be done by improving fuel cycle infrastructure, including uranium enrichment and conversion, as well as waste recycling and disposal infrastructure. This Nuclear EO directs the DOE to, among other things:
  • Prioritize work with the nuclear energy industry to facilitate five gigawatt of power uprates to existing nuclear reactors and have ten new large reactors with complete designs under construction by 2030.
  • Coordinate with the Secretary of Defense to assess the feasibility of restarting or repurposing closed nuclear power plants as energy hubs for military microgrid support.
  • Prioritize funding for qualified advanced nuclear technologies through grants, loans, investment capital, and funding opportunities in coordination with the Administrator of the Small Business Administration.
  • Support education pathways by taking steps to increase access to research and development infrastructure, workforce, and expertise at Department of Energy National Laboratories for college and university students studying nuclear engineering and other nuclear energy-related fields.
• EO 14299⁸ – Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security: This Nuclear EO aims to leverage the U.S. military's energy needs to deploy new reactor technologies and to facilitate exports of U.S.-developed nuclear technologies abroad. To this end, this Nuclear EO provides for the federal government to support the rapid growth of advanced nuclear technologies domestically and for export to U.S. allies and commercial partners. Among other things, the Secretary of Energy is directed to:
  • No later than September 30, 2028, commence the operation of a nuclear reactor, regulated by the United States Army, at a domestic military base or installation.
  • Designate one or more sites owned or controlled by the DOE, including national laboratories, for the use and deployment of advanced nuclear reactor technologies.
  • Site, approve, and authorize the design, construction, and operation of privately funded:
    • advanced nuclear reactor technologies at DOE-owned or controlled sites for the purpose of powering AI infrastructure, other critical or national security needs, supply chain items, or on-site infrastructure; and
    • nuclear fuel recycling, reprocessing, and reactor fuel fabrication technologies.

6. THE ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL ACT

In contrast with orders and other actions by the U.S. executive branch, legislative action is underway to reduce or terminate the tax credits for energy sources known as clean, renewable, or sustainable. On May 22, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (the "Beautiful Bill"), which proposes to significantly alter current tax credits made available under the IRA for these energy sources. This proposed legislation would terminate, reduce the period of availability, or accelerate the phase out of a number of tax credits. These include:

• Section 45Y (Clean Electricity Production Tax Credit): Terminate the Section 45Y tax credit for any qualified facility that either (i) begins construction more than 60 days after the date of the enactment of the Act or (ii) that is placed in service after December 31, 2028. Certain advanced nuclear facilities that begin construction prior to January 1, 2029, will remain eligible for this tax credit.
• Section 48E (Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit): Terminate the Section 48E tax credit for any qualified facility that either (i) begins construction more than 60 days after the date of the enactment of the Beautiful Bill or (ii) that is placed in service after December 31, 2028. Certain advanced nuclear facilities that begins construction prior to January 1, 2029, will remain eligible for this tax credit.
• Section 45U (Zero-Emission Nuclear Power Production Credit): Accelerate the phaseout schedule for the tax credit under this section one year earlier than current law, by December 31, 2031, instead of 2032.
• Section 45V (Credit for Production of Clean Hydrogen): Terminate the tax credit under this section seven years earlier than current law, by January 1, 2026, instead of 2033, for facilities that begin construction after December 31, 2025.
• Section 45X (Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit): Existing credit for wind energy components under this provision would be terminated for components sold after December 31, 2027, accelerating such termination by five years.
• Section 45Z (Clean Fuel Production Credit): Accelerates the termination of the existing credit for transportation fuel under this provision for fuel sold after December 31, 2025, except that termination of the credit for fuel produced from feedstock that is produced or grown in the U.S., Mexico, or Canada would be extended to December 31, 2031.

The Beautiful Bill also proposes to eliminate the transferability of various credits, including Section 45Q (Carbon Oxide Sequestration Credit), Section 48 Investment Tax Credit (with respect to geothermal), Section 45U Zero-Emission Nuclear Power Production Credit, Section 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit, and Section 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit.

7. FERC⁹ ACTIONS

On June 18, 2025, FERC took action to speed up the construction of natural gas infrastructure projects in the U.S. In support of these actions, FERC Chairman Mark Christie said that "new and expanded natural gas infrastructure is essential to help America avoid a grid reliability crisis." This was done by FERC's temporarily waiving two existing FERC rules that served to limit initial construction activities for natural gas facilities and issuing notices proposing permanent changes to those limits.

The FERC actions include:

• Docket CP25-499-000: In this proceeding, FERC (i) granted a one-year waiver of FERC's Order No. 871 and (ii) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to remove the rule issued through Order No. 871 from FERC's regulations. FERC's Order No. 871 precluded the issuance of authorizations to proceed with construction activities for natural gas facilities while certain requests for rehearing are pending before FERC.
• Docket CP25-208-000: In this proceeding, FERC (i) granted a two-year temporary waiver increasing blanket certificate cost limitations to expand certain activities a natural gas company may undertake without the need to obtain a case-specific certificate and (ii) issued a Notice of Inquiry seeking comment on permanently adjusting the blanket certificate cost limitations.

8. CONCLUSION

The recent executive actions signal a commitment by the federal government under the Trump Administration to advancing oil, gas, coal and nuclear energy. The administration's directives to expand domestic production, reduce regulatory barriers, invest in infrastructure, and accelerate deployment timelines suggest a favorable environment for oil, gas, coal and nuclear development in the near term. If these policies are implemented as intended, these energy sectors may see expanded federal support, increased private investment, and a broader role in meeting both industrial and national security energy demands.

In contrast, the future of renewable energy tax incentives remains uncertain. The Beautiful Bill must still pass the Senate and be signed into law before taking effect, and it is unclear whether its proposed provisions will be enacted in their current form. As of the date of this Client Alert, the Senate has already proposed a number of significant changes that would reduce the impact on renewable energy.

The full impact of the administration's energy-focused EOs will depend on how federal agencies implement them and whether they withstand potential legal and political challenges. The overall direction of U.S. energy policy remains in flux.

MVA remains watchful of new developments in the U.S. energy policy and anyone seeking more information on the topics discussed in this alert should reach out to their MVA attorney or the authors of this alert.

Footnotes

1. Exec. Order No. 14153, 90 Fed. Reg. 8347 (January 20, 2025), available here: https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2025-01955

2. Exec. Order No. 14154, 90 Fed. Reg. 8353 (January 20, 2025), available here: https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2025-01956

3. Exec. Order No. 14156, 90 Fed. Reg. 8433 (January 20, 2025), available here: https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2025-02003

4. Exec. Order No. 14261, 90 Fed. Reg. 15517 (April 8, 2025), available here: https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2025-06380

5. Exec. Order No. 14300, 90 Fed. Reg. 22587 (May 23, 2025), available here: https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2025-09798

6. Exec. Order No. 14301, 90 Fed. Reg. 22591 (May 23, 2025), available here: https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2025-09799

7. Exec. Order No. 14302, 90 Fed. Reg. 22595 (May 23, 2025), available here: https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2025-09801

8. Exec. Order No. 14299, 90 Fed. Reg. 22581 (May 23, 2025), available here: https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2025-09796

9. FERC is an independent agency within the DOE that regulates the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil. FERC is composed of up to five commissioners with no more than three commissioners from the same political party.

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