Renew. Rethink. Read.
Exploring the future of legacy commercial solar.
Natural gas was once seen as the lowest-cost path to reliable power. In 2025, that assumption no longer holds. New gas plants are slower and far more expensive to build, fuel prices are rising with global LNG demand, and households are already feeling the impact through higher electricity and heating bills.
California is proving that scaling solar and battery storage can fundamentally change how a power system operates. With natural gas generation down, solar output nearly doubled since 2020, and batteries now covering the evening peak, the state is showing what happens when clean energy is built fast enough to meet real demand.
PJM’s market monitor is urging FERC to block new data center connections unless the grid can reliably serve them. With $16.6 billion in added capacity costs already hitting ratepayers, unclear rules risk higher bills, reliability failures, and a two-tier grid where households absorb the downside of AI-driven demand growth.
In 2025, clean energy became the leading source of new power in the U.S., with record solar and battery additions and fossil fuels falling below half of generation. But the projects completed this year were built under yesterday’s rules. As policy uncertainty grows and demand accelerates, the real test begins in 2026.
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 Department of Energy has dismantled several key offices responsible for advancing U.S. clean energy and grid modernization. The reorganization eliminates dedicated solar and efficiency programs while pausing billions in active projects. With offices dissolved and staff reduced, the shake-up raises questions about federal capacity to support states, utilities, and developers as demand and grid pressures rise.
