Loading...
In Puerto Rico, residential solar and storage growth outpaces utility-scale developments - Puerto Rico’s families have built one of the most resilient energy networks in the U.S. After years of blackouts, residents turned to rooftop solar and batteries—now totaling over 1.3 GW of capacity and 185,000 systems. With 81,000 batteries linked into a virtual power plant, Puerto Rico’s grid is being rebuilt from the bottom up by its own people.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) just took apart several of the offices that helped drive the country’s clean energy progress over the last decade. It is one of the biggest shifts in federal energy policy in years.
The Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, the Grid Deployment Office, and the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains have all been removed from the DOE’s main structure. These offices managed billions of dollars for batteries, hydrogen, grid upgrades, and domestic clean tech manufacturing. Much of that work is now paused or canceled.
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy has also been renamed as the Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation. For the first time in decades, DOE will not have an office focused directly on scaling solar, wind, or efficiency.
This comes after major funding cuts. More than $11 billion in clean energy and grid project awards have already been canceled, including hydrogen hubs, carbon reduction projects, and methane control programs. Another $12 billion in cuts is being considered.
Federal support is shifting to energy sources that run around the clock. That includes natural gas, coal, nuclear, geothermal, and early-stage fusion. The direction moves away from the long-standing federal backing for renewables and efficiency that spanned multiple administrations.
This shift matters because states have been relying on these federal offices to help modernize the grid and build new clean energy capacity. Our recent posts showed how progress has been happening around the country:
DOE’s workforce is also shrinking. The agency has lost about 20% of its staff in the past year. With offices dissolved and funding frozen, it is unclear how the remaining programs will be managed or whether long-term work will stay on track.
The next phase is not just about policy. It is about what happens to the expertise inside DOE. Thousands of engineers, project managers, and technical staff built federal programs that states and utilities depend on. If that talent leaves, this will impact how long it takes to get necessary approvals, manage contracts, plan our energy systems, and adopt new technologies more easily.
There are also open questions about multi-year projects already in motion. Many developers now need clarity on whether their agreements will be honored, modified, or delayed.
This reorganization not only changes office names but also reshapes federal capacity as demand rises, data centers expand, and the grid faces strain. What DOE does next will influence the workforce, ongoing projects, and the tools needed to keep the country’s energy system stable in the years ahead.