U.S. Energy Foundation

A newly announced partnership seeks to expand access to leasing rooftops and land for massive solar panel installations and making community solar more available across multiple U.S. states. The SolarEdge and Summit Ridge Energy collaboration will support projects of at least 100 megawatts using inverter technology to make solar energy more efficient and reliable. By also expanding domestic solar production, the partnership is creating American jobs and boosting the economy while feeding excess energy into the local grid, helping lower electricity prices across entire communities. https://bit.ly/4jDlC1B

A new study from Energy Innovation find that the elimination of technology-neutral electricity tax credits would raise the nation’s household energy bills around $6 billion annually in the next five years and $25 billion annually by 2040. This amounts to $40-$60 per household in 2030 and $140-$220 annually per household in 2040. In some states, the impacts are particularly stark. Elimination of the credits would increase household energy costs by more than $400 a year in Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, New York, Iowa, and Kansas. https://bit.ly/3XKuD0i

Climate Comedy: Finding Laughter in the Crisis looks at whether "Comedy can not only provide comfort and laughs, it can point the way towards a hopeful truth. Because, the truth is, no matter who’s in office, clean energy is the future," says Esteban Gast, comedian-in-residence at nonprofit, Generation180. https://bit.ly/425xP7Q

California now has nearly 50% more EV chargers than it does gas pumps. According to the California Energy Commission, there are roughly 178,000 EV chargers in the state, compared with approximately 120,000 gas nozzles. https://bit.ly/43Zsvp3

The U.S. is expected to build 63 gigawatts of power plant capacity this year, more than it has in decades, as new AI computing and domestic manufacturing projects cause a surge in energy demand. At this crucial juncture, plants that don’t burn fossil fuels are set to deliver 93% of all the new capacity joining the U.S. grid in 2025, per new estimates from the federal Energy Information Administration. https://bit.ly/41AgfZz

In 2022, California set a goal for the world’s fifth-largest economy to deploy 6 million heat pump units by 2030. An estimated 1.9 million have been installed so far. The California Heat Pump Partnership recently announced the nation’s first statewide blueprint to achieve the state’s ambitious goals for deploying heat pumps, a critical tech for decarbonizing buildings and improving public health. https://bit.ly/4kD3h5W

As winter turns to spring, Texas is setting new records with its nation-leading clean energy fleet. In just the first week of March, the ERCOT power grid that supplies nearly all of Texas set records for most wind production (28,470 megawatts), most solar production (24,818 megawatts), and greatest battery discharge (4,833 megawatts). Only two years ago, the most that batteries had ever injected into the ERCOT grid at once was 766 megawatts. Now the battery fleet is providing nearly as much instantaneous power as Texas nuclear power plants, which contribute around 5,000 megawatts. https://bit.ly/3R2SnJ4

Wind and solar surpassed coal for power generation in the U.S. in 2024 for the first time, even as electricity demand rose according to a new study. “Despite growing emissions, the carbon intensity of electricity continued to decline,” according to the report. “The rise in power demand was much faster than the rise in power sector CO2 emissions, making each unit of electricity likely the cleanest it has ever been.” https://bit.ly/3FoM0NI

U.S. manufacturers rely on more than 30,000 small industrial boilers to make a large number of things: foods, drinks, paper, chemicals, clothes, electronics, furniture, transportation equipment, and more. The vast majority of these smaller boilers burn fossil fuels and their emissions contribute not only to climate change, but to smoggy skies and elevated asthma rates, too. Swapping out boilers for electric industrial heat pumps would be a quick win for communities and regulators looking to improve air quality. https://bit.ly/43l1pZp

A former coal-fired power plant in Alabama’s Walker County is set to be transformed into a large battery storage facility. Construction on Alabama Power’s Gorgas Battery Facility will start this year, with completion expected in 2027. It will house lithium ion phosphate batteries with a two-hour duration capable of storing 150 megawatts of electricity, which is equivalent to the capacity needed to power about 9,000 homes. https://bit.ly/3Ditrds