Transition Finance Weekly - 9/5/2025
Wind Delays Cost $$, Alaska’s Gas Addiction, Exxon’s Absurd Calif. Countersuit
Exploring the policy, politics, and economics of the clean energy transition
Each week here in Transition Finance Weekly, researchers and analysts from Pleiades Strategy summarize the top stories and trends related to the policy, politics, and economics of the clean energy transition in the states.
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Breaking: Dutch pension fund PFZW has fired BlackRock over its weak sustainability record and pullback on climate engagement. PFZW is huge — it’s Europe’s third-largest pension fund, slightly smaller than all of NYC’s pension systems combined. “The European pension funds are basically saying, ‘...they must consider climate risk because it’s a financial risk and that’s their job,’” said Mindy Lubber of clean-energy nonprofit Ceres.
1. Colorado and Xcel Energy Scramble to Capture Expiring Tax Credits
The state aims to lock in 4.5 GW of new renewables and batteries before the window closes.
Xcel Energy is moving fast in Colorado to take advantage of federal tax credits before they expire. The utility filed a plan to secure 4,500 MW of clean energy, supported by state regulators, the Governor’s energy office, and ratepayer advocates. To keep things fair, developers will need to prove they can meet project deadlines before credits expire, lock in quoted prices, and use existing transmission lines to lower cost and risk.
The clean energy buildout will help meet growing capacity needs from data centers and other sources, which Xcel has pegged at 8,500 MW in its new ERP. Gov. Jared Polis, who quickly directed agencies to go big on renewables when the Trump tax bill sunset the tax credits, is hoping this new push keeps Colorado ahead of the curve.
“The administration has taken irresponsible actions to drive up the cost of electricity across the nation, and that the intent here is to do what we can at the state level to the extent possible to mitigate the impact on Colorado ratepayers,” said Will Toor, executive director of the energy office.
2. Alaska Governor Dreams of Expensive Megaproject — Overlooks Cleaner Solutions
Anchorage utilities are running out of gas, and instead of planning a transition, state leaders are attempting to double down.
Cook Inlet, the longtime source of natural gas to power Anchorage and much of Southcentral Alaska, is nearly tapped out. Within a few years, there may not be enough of the fuel to drive the plants that heat homes and power industry, which would lead to grid strains and brownouts. The system saw a close call last year when the gas storage system glitched in February with temperatures at 18 degrees below zero.
North Slope gas, 800 miles away, is mostly locked in reserves, so in the short term, utilities will likely need to buy imported gas. In the long term, Alaska’s world-class wind resources and long summer days make clean power attractive, and weaning the state off gas would promote energy independence. But rather than pushing renewables, Gov. Mike Dunleavy is pushing an $80 billion+ fossil infrastructure vision.
He wants a massive new gas pipeline to link the North Slope to Anchorage and beyond, which would take years, and he’s floating coal mining and coal-fired power as a backup. And it would lock Anchorage, and Alaska, into an uncertain energy future, dependent indefinitely on soon-to-be-stranded assets with no long-term plan.
“All of these resources — oil and gas, coal — are finite,” said Chris Rose of the Renewable Energy Alaska Project. “The volatility that the Anchorage area is about to see when we start importing gas is going to startle people.”
3. Offshore Wind Delays Cost Americans $400 Million Last Winter Alone
A new report shows offshore wind would have offset price increases in natural gas, saving consumers money — yet the Trump administration is doing everything it can to shut the industry down.
Daymark Energy Advisors and RENEW Northeast released a report this week showing that just 3.5 GW of offshore wind, had it been online last winter, would have saved New England $400 million in energy costs and prevented 1.8 million tons of CO₂ emissions. Instead, record-high fossil gas prices — up 112% from the previous year — sent electricity prices soaring.
The wind capacity could have powered over 567,000 homes and avoided 34 MMBtu of fossil fuel use and the resultant emissions — the equivalent of pulling 400,000 gasoline-powered cars off the road for a year. But as we covered last week, federal agencies are still halting major wind projects under flimsy “national security” pretenses. The math is clear — and the price of delay keeps climbing.
“Offshore wind is not just a climate solution—it’s a cost solution,” said Francis Pullaro of RENEW Northeast. “Delays are costing families and businesses real money.”
4. Exxon Countersues California Over Plastics Lawsuit — Showing Their Hand
Owning the costs they’ve knowingly created is existential to their business model.
ExxonMobil has filed a countersuit against California, claiming the state’s lawsuit over plastic pollution amounts to defamation. The oil giant is also targeting nonprofit groups involved in the case, circularly accusing them of conspiring to “destroy its recycling business.”
The case, currently unfolding in federal court in Beaumont, Texas, marks a sharp escalation, and a revealing one. It exposes the industry’s biggest fear: liability. Being forced to pay for decades of pollution and public deception poses an existential threat to fossil fuel giants, which is why Exxon and its allies are fighting accountability on every front.
Exxon’s legal offensive — which extends far beyond California, with lawsuits and PR campaigns against superfund bills in multiple states — is a signal to every state that has considered going after Big Oil to pay for the pollution, health damage, and climate emissions it’s caused over the years that companies like this won’t go down easy.
5. Texas Proxy Advisor Law Blocked by Federal Judge
Enforcement of Texas’ “anti-ESG” restraints on proxy advisors is blocked — for now.
Federal district judge Alan Albright issued a preliminary injunction last week against Texas’s SB 2337, a sweeping “anti-ESG” law passed this session that would have prohibited proxy advisors like ISS and Glass Lewis from freely advising shareholders on climate, diversity, and governance, even if that meant lower returns for investors.
The advisors had sued on free speech grounds — and the judge agreed with them that by in effect requiring proxy advisors to adopt state-sanctioned positions on these issues, Texas right-wing extremists had likely overplayed their hand.
The law was openly backed by ExxonMobil, which has been on a years-long campaign to stop shareholder efforts to push it toward cleaner and more transparent business practices.
An exasperated Judge Albright during the hearing: “I don’t understand the purpose of the statute. I understand the motivation of it. Who are you protecting?”