Ed Miliband strikes clean energy deal with California’s Gavin Newsom

California has struck its first clean power deal with the UK as the US energy sector weighs the consequences of Donald Trump’s latest attacks on climate regulation.

The high-level agreement signed by UK energy secretary Ed Miliband and California’s Democratic governor Gavin Newsom in London on Monday aims to boost technology sharing and mutual investment in the “global race for clean power”, the UK government said.

The two men have tried to use a period of domestic political turmoil in both countries to cast themselves as clean energy leaders and make the case that industries such as wind and solar can drive economic growth.

Miliband has urged the UK’s embattled prime minister Sir Keir Starmer to show “greater clarity of purpose” on issues including net zero. Newsom has acted as self-appointed head of the “resistance” to Trump and accused him of an “own goal” on ceding climate leadership to China.

In California, three times more clean energy jobs are being created than jobs elsewhere in the state’s economy, while the UK’s “net zero economy” has grown at a faster pace than GDP, Miliband claimed on Monday. 

The agreement comes less than a week after the US Environmental Protection Agency repealed a landmark ruling known as the “endangerment finding”. The 2009 finding provided a legal basis for regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases and underpinned the EPA’s authority to clamp down on emissions from fossil-fuel extraction, power generation and transport. 

The move will be challenged in court by climate groups that fear it could herald a more profound rollback of regulation meant to boost clean energy and accelerate the transition away from oil, gas and coal in the US. 

Last year, the Trump administration scrapped a consumer tax credit for EVs and launched a campaign to prevent California from introducing stricter emissions controls. Trump has also tried to stymie the multibillion-dollar wind industry.

The UK government said that deepening ties with the wealthiest state in the US could further open up the Californian market to its domestic clean energy sector, drive export opportunities and support skilled jobs.

The two governments will also share expertise on protecting biodiversity and building community resilience in the face of extreme weather, following widespread flooding in the UK this winter and a historic cold snap in parts of the US.

Trump told Politico on Monday that it was “inappropriate” for Britain to sign energy deals with Newsom, referring to him using the derogatory nickname “Newscum”. “The worst thing that the UK can do is get involved in Gavin.”

British energy company Octopus welcomed the deal, following its deployment in California of an app that uses EVs and home batteries to help balance the energy grid.

Octopus confirmed during Newsom’s visit to its London headquarters on Monday $1bn of new investments into Californian clean technology, through its renewable energy investment arm.

The company said it would back two Californian carbon removal companies involved in grassland restoration and reforestation to transform degraded land into CO₂-absorbing assets, with several Big Tech groups lined up to buy the resulting credits. It would also invest in “heat batteries” meant to replace fossil-fuel boilers in hard-to-electrify industries, and would acquire a solar and battery project in California. 

Nick Chaset, chief executive of Octopus Energy US, said the deal would “open up opportunities” for the company to bring its technology to the US.

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