Renewable Energy Leads New Generation

Solar and wind accounted for almost 98 percent of all of the new electrical generating capacity added to the U.S. grid in the first quarter of 2025 and were the only sources of new generating capacity in the month of March.

According to recent data from FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, March 2025 was the 19th consecutive month where solar was the largest single source of electrical generating capacity on the U.S. grid, dating back to September of 2023.

For the first quarter of this year, solar accounted for 72.3 percent of new generating capacity. Generation from wind turbines provided nearly 25 percent of the nation's new electrical resources.

Generation from wind accounts for 11.8 percent of the nation's electricity, followed by solar with 10.7 percent. 

Renewable energy now provides over one third of the total U.S. generating capacity. 

Ten years ago, renewables only accounted for 16.9 percent of the power on the U.S. grid. Wind was at 5.7 percent and solar at 1 percent.

Over the last decade, wind share of U.S. generating capacity has more than doubled, while solar has increased by more than ten fold.

Republican-led Committee Guts RE Incentives of the IRA

A draft reconciliation package from the House Ways and Means Committee plans to step down the investment and production tax credits for wind, solar, batteries, geothermal, and other clean technologies after 2028.  This is four years earlier than what was originally outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. 

The proposal also tightens eligibility requirements on projects. According to the draft package, all projects must be placed in service before qualifying for the credit.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) based eligibility for investment and production tax credits on the year that the projects began construction. Delays in grid interconnection and  long lead times on electrical equipment can delay projects a number of years between the time when a solar or wind project  is completed and  when a project begins to generate electricity. 

Most residential and construction tax credits for efficient home appliances, solar panels, electric vehicles and EV chargers would be eliminated by the end of this year under this draft plan. 

Credits for electric and other clean fuel fleet vehicles would also end after 2025 if this proposal is adopted.

Study Reveals Repeal of Energy Tax Credits will Increase Energy Costs

A study released last Thursday in related news by the Clean Energy Buyers Association has determined that repealing these tax credits on clean energy would raise the cost of energy for consumers and industry.

It found that from 2026 to 2032, the cost of electricity would increase significantly if these tax credits were removed. This is due to an increased reliance on natural gas generation, a resource that is actually constricted in its availability. 

The study found that energy intensive industries such as iron and steel, chemicals, cement and aluminum would be hardest hit.

Seven of the 19 states that were studied would see double-digit increases in the average household and business cost of electricity 

During the period, according to the study, Maine would be the highest hit with average increases of over 20 percent for households and 19.3 percent for businesses.  

Rogue Devices Found in Chinese Solar Inverters

U.S. energy officials have found unexplained communication equipment inside some Chinese made inverter devices, according to a report recently released by Reuters news agency.

Reuters reported the presence of undocumented or rogue communication devices in a number of Chinese made solar inverters. These could potentially introduce remote communication channels into these inverters by which someone could bypass cybersecurity firewalls that utility companies put in place designed to prevent hacking.

Similar devices were also found in some Chinese manufactured battery systems.

Inverters are highly digitalized products that are often referred to as the heart or the brains of a solar system. Hackers could remotely disrupt or switch off a solar array. Hackers controlling solar inverters could result in power losses, blackouts or even damage to the electrical energy infrastructure.

The utilities that spoke to Reuters did not disclose the manufacturers or the number of products that they found these rogue devices within. Energy analyst, Wood McKenzie noted that the Chinese firms of Howway and Sun Grow actually dominate the utility scale inverter marketplace, dominating over 50 percent of the global inverter market in 2023