The U.S. Department of Energy granted $90 million to Pennsylvania’s Mineral Basin Solar project in Clearfield County, planned for reclaimed coal mine sites to produce over 400 megawatts and support local job training. But ongoing federal support is now uncertain. (agnormark/Adobe Stock)
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January 12, 2026
By Danielle Smith
Clean energy projects in Pennsylvania and throughout Appalachia are being delayed or cancelled as federal funding has been eliminated.
A new report details the resulting uncertainty – about jobs, emissions cuts and long-term economic growth.
The joint report from ReImagine Appalachia and Keystone Research Center says federal legislation drove more than $23 billion in public and private clean energy investment across Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia between 2022 and 2024.
Report Co-Author Diana Polson, a senior policy analyst with the Keystone Research Center, said the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act jump-started that growth – but recent cuts by Congress and the Trump administration have strangled the federal tax credits and other investments that targeted coal country and western Pennsylvania.
“Our report found that since 2021, Pennsylvania has received $9.2 billion in climate funding for 986 projects,” said Polson. “So far, since the start of this year, $461 million of that funding has been canceled or threatened.”
Polson said across the region, about $2 billion in projects have either been canceled or are at risk.
Federal funding had sparked a record $4.7 billion in private investment in clean energy and manufacturing by late 2024 – but the report says since President Donald Trump took office, that number has dropped by almost $1 billion, and stalled.
Polson said fewer investment dollars also mean fewer jobs. The report shows the four Appalachian states were expected to create more than 92,000 clean energy and manufacturing jobs, but 60,000 of those positions haven’t been created.
In Pennsylvania, close to 10,000 jobs are at risk.
“And also in Pennsylvania,” said Polson, “North Central PA Congressional District 15, represented by Republican Rep. Glenn Thompson, was going to see 2,689 new jobs, primarily from solar projects. But many of these jobs could now be at risk.”
The report says one of the largest grants that got cancelled was for the Solar for All program, which would have brought clean, affordable energy to low‑income communities.
Polson added that state energy prices have also jumped 16% since the Trump administration took office and they’re still rising. The report recommends looking to Congress to restore some of this support, so the region’s economic revival can continue.