U.S. Home to $58 Billion Worth of Q2 ESG Kickoffs

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Even though the Trump administration aims to undo or weaken state laws and Biden administration-era funding promoting environmental, social and governance (ESG), Industrial Info is tracking more than $50 billion worth of ESG-related projects set to begin in the second quarter--with most of the activity attributed to solar generation. Half of the overall project activity is attributed to projects that have a medium or high (70-99%) chance of moving forward as scheduled.

One of the highest-valued solar generation projects set to kick off from April through June is a plant on tribal lands in the Four Corners region of Colorado, which is being developed by the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in partnership with international renewable energy company Canigou Group (Hong Kong, China). The $1.5 billion Sun Bear solar plant is designed to provide up to 975 megawatts (MW) of power utilizing 2.2 million bi-facial, ground-mounted solar panels on a single-axis tracking system.

The project, which Industrial Info is tracking with a kickoff date in June, also entails construction of a battery energy storage system (BESS). According to the project website, the timeline includes two to four years of site preparation and construction, a 35-year project life, and two to four years of decommissioning and reclamation. In addition, a generation tie-in line will connect the Sun Bear project to an unnamed regional transmission line nearby. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can click here for the project report.

Power Industry project activity also includes high-dollar solar-plus-BESS projects, including one that is set to kick off this quarter and designed to wrap up by the end of 2026. Renewables-focused investment manager Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners' (New York, New York) $1.2 billion Desert Marble project in Nevada is designed to provide 500 MW of solar power and 500 MW of battery-storage capacity. The BESS will utilize iron-lithium technology--a cost-effective alternative to traditional lithium-ion batteries. Subscribers can read more information on the Desert Marble project.

Wind projects include MidAmerican Energy's (Des Moines, Iowa) Shenandoah Hill Windfarm in Iowa, which is designed to generate about 200 MW. The energy company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated (NYSE:BRK.A) (Omaha, Nebraska). Subscribers can read more information on the Shenandoah Hill project, which is expected to wrap up around the end of the year.

But other industries besides the Power Industry also are in the ESG game. Project activity in the Chemical Processing Industry includes J. Westling Company's $750 million Project Meadowlark in Gothenburg, Nebraska, tentatively set for site preparation to begin in June. The project entails constructing a green ammonia and urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) production complex that would use "zero carbon" feedstocks green hydrogen, carbon dioxide (CO2) and wastewater to produce green fertilizer. Subscribers can click here to read the project report.

In the Metals & Minerals Industry, a project in the preliminary engineering phase that could kick off this quarter is American Cast Iron Pipe Company's (Birmingham, Alabama) upgrade at its steel pipe mill in Birmingham. The project entails replacing an existing furnace with four induction furnaces, which would reduce the facility's CO2 emissions by 62% and its melting/holding process emissions by 95%. Last year, the Biden administration pledged to support the project, with $75 million in funding that was part of $6 billion in funding aimed at decarbonizing energy-intensive industries. Subscribers can click here for the project report.

But political posturing around ESG and moves to prohibit related project investment are ongoing now that Donald Trump is in office. President Trump has initiated the process to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement on climate change, pushed more fossil-fuel production and called global warming "a scam," as he aims to stifle support for clean energy.

Further, on Tuesday, Trump issued an executive order that aims to prevent the enforcement of state laws passed to reduce the use of fossil fuels and combat climate change. The executive order's causes of action include:

• U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, in consultation with the heads of appropriate executive departments and agencies, identifying "all state and local laws, regulations, causes of action, policies, and practices (collectively, state laws) burdening the identification, development, siting, production, or use of domestic energy resources that are or may be unconstitutional, preempted by federal law, or otherwise unenforceable; and
• Attorney General Bondi prioritizing the identification any state laws purporting to address "climate change" or involving "environmental, social, and governance" initiatives, "environmental justice," carbon or "greenhouse gas" emissions, and funds to collect carbon penalties or carbon taxes

In addition, the attorney general "shall expeditiously take all appropriate action to stop the enforcement of state laws and continuation of civil actions" identified in the above that the Attorney General determines to be illegal.

This came just hours after the president issued an executive order aimed at prompting coal production. For more information, see April 9, 2025, article - Trump Executive Order Seeks to Reverse Decline of Coal.

Subscribers to the GMI Database can click here for all project reports mentioned in this article and here for related plant profiles.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).