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Good morning and happy Friday,
The eastern half of the U.S. is getting slammed by a potentially historic winter storm, so if you’re affected, stay safe and stay warm! At the Davos Summit, President Trump covered a wide range of topics when he addressed the gathering on Wednesday, including a full-frontal attack on wind, saying that “There are windmills all over Europe. There are windmills all over the place, and they are losers.”
Be that as it may, Wood Mackenzie says global wind power additions are expected to decline 6% in 2026; but at least in the U.S., solar power will drive electricity generation growth over the next two years, according to the EIA (more on this below in Must Read), and a new Mercom report finds that globally, corporate funding for solar reached $22.2 billion in 2025.
Closer to home, incoming New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill took office Tuesday and immediately made a big push for affordability, signing executive orders seeking to freeze electricity cost increases, boost solar, storage and virtual power plants, and issue ratepayer relief in the form of bill credits.
Read on for more.
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Main Character Energy
As noted in the intro, EIA data for 2025 show the U.S. electricity system reached a turning point last year as solar power emerged as the dominant source meeting rising demand. A new analysis from Ember shows that rapid solar deployment – paired with a surge in battery storage – allowed clean energy to shoulder most of the nation’s load growth, even as overall electricity demand rose at one of the fastest rates in a decade. Here are some key deets:
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Solar carried the majority of load growth. Solar met 61% of total U.S. electricity demand growth in 2025, rising by a record 83 TWh, a 27% increase from 2024. It now supplies 8.5% of all U.S. electricity and is projected to reach 17.3% within three years.
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Growth showed up where demand was hottest. Solar expanded in step with load growth, meeting 81% of demand increases in Texas and the Midwest, 33% in the Mid-Atlantic, and more than 100% in Florida, where new solar generation displaced fossil output.
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Batteries made solar a round-the-clock player. Energy storage capacity additions surged 133% to 26 GW, allowing solar to meet all new daytime demand and a growing share of evening demand. In California, most new solar output is now shifted into evening hours rather than oversupplying midday.
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Deployment headwinds are emerging. Despite record generation, new utility-scale solar capacity additions fell 6% year over year, driven by tariff uncertainty, interconnection delays, and a residential market slowdown following net metering changes.
⚡️ The Takeaway
Solar soars. In showing that solar met nearly all daytime electricity demand growth without causing oversupply, the Ember report highlights the extent of unused grid capacity that solar can continue to fill. Separately, FERC data confirm that this operational success is being matched by scale: solar supplied roughly 72% of new U.S. generating capacity in 2025, surpassing wind as the largest renewable resource. Together, these findings show that with falling costs, rapid battery deployment, and rising electrification, solar can meet future demand growth and displace fossil generation – if transmission, interconnection, and policy barriers are addressed. |
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PJM’s Power Crunch
Electricity demand in PJM – which serves 13 states and Washington, D.C. – is growing at an unprecedented pace due to data centers, AI, advanced manufacturing, electrification, and sustained economic expansion. A new analysis by ACP examines how PJM’s grid performs under two scenarios: a business-as-usual case where all resources are available, and a “no new clean power” case where no additional wind, solar, or storage projects are built beyond those already underway or legally required. Here’s a summary of key findings:
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Without new clean energy, ACP estimates PJM ratepayers would pay an additional $360 billion over the next decade, largely due to higher wholesale electricity prices. The average household would face $3,000-$8,500 in extra electricity costs over ten years.
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In the no-clean-power scenario, PJM becomes increasingly dependent on aging fossil fuel plants and imported electricity. Net power imports rise nearly 300% by 2035, increasing exposure to fuel price volatility and extreme price spikes.
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Wind, solar, and storage can typically be developed and interconnected within 1-2 years, compared to 5–7 years for new natural gas plants. Clean resources also have no fuel costs and low operating expenses, helping suppress wholesale prices.
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Constraints on new clean energy could force PJM to pay premium prices for scarce gas turbines or risk losing data center and manufacturing investments to other regions.
⚡️ The Takeaway
Dramatic and unprecedented. In response to PJM’s record-high capacity prices and growing reliability concerns, the administration and a bipartisan group of governors are pressing for a one-time “emergency” auction that would require data center developers to sign long-term contracts and pay for new power plants built specifically to serve them. Supporters argue this approach would protect households from higher electricity bills, speed new generation, and help the U.S. compete with China on AI. Critics say the proposal lacks clear legal authority, could disrupt PJM’s existing market structure, and may be too slow or complex to address near-term needs. Consistent with ACP’s findings, clean energy advocates also warn the plan could sideline faster, lower-cost renewable and storage projects.
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A Billion-Dollar Bet
Laser Isotope Separation Technologies is only a three-year-old startup, but it’s planning a major $1.3 billion investment to build a commercial uranium enrichment facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee – a newsworthy move in a highly regulated, capital-intensive sector like nuclear fuel.
The project is to be built on the former K-25 site in Oak Ridge – recently renamed LIST Island – reviving a historic nuclear site and reinforcing Oak Ridge’s role as the “Silicon Valley of nuclear” by tying cutting-edge technology to one of the most iconic locations in U.S. nuclear history.
The facility is expected to create about 203 high-paying jobs and would be the first U.S.-origin commercial laser uranium enrichment plant in the world, signaling a potential technological leap beyond traditional enrichment methods.
The plant will use specialized lasers to selectively excite uranium-235 isotopes, enabling more efficient separation from uranium-238. Because most nuclear reactors require fuel enriched to 3.5–5% uranium-235, compared to just 0.7% in natural uranium, the technology could offer a more precise and potentially cost-effective alternative to traditional enrichment methods.
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Company executives described the project as a transition from research to full-scale commercial deployment, with construction beginning after licensing and permitting and initial operations targeted before 2030.
The investment comes as the U.S. seeks to rebuild domestic nuclear fuel supply chains, reduce reliance on foreign enrichment services, and support new nuclear reactors and advanced energy technologies. The scale, novelty, and strategic importance of the project make it far more than a routine economic development announcement, and a story worth watching.
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Thanks for diving into the Developer Dispatch with us.
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Building American power requires a powerful team. |
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