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Soaring electricity prices have been making headlines across the U.‌S.‌ for months now.‌ A new LBNL report offers explanations and some surprises.‌
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Good morning and happy Friday, 

The past week has brought a mixed bag of headlines across the clean energy sector, starting with 23 states filing a lawsuit in response to the EPA’s cancellation of the $7 billion Solar for All program in August.


Then last Friday, the DOE said it had canceled more than $700 million in battery and manufacturing awards, apparently the first confirmed cuts from a list of $20 billion worth of targeted projects circulating among lobbyists. Interestingly, whereas previous cuts have focused on projects in blue states, these cuts are the first aimed at projects in red states. 

The latest US Wind Energy Monitor report released by Wood Mackenzie and ACP finds that in the first half of 2025, US wind installations fell 15% compared to the same period last year, but in the second half of the year, activity is expected to rebound sharply, and we could see a spike in 2027.

Meanwhile, a recent report from Mercom says corporate funding for the solar sector in the first nine months of 2025 has fallen 22% year-over-year, and a speaker at the Solar & Storage Finance USA conference this week said financing U.S. BESS projects “has become more challenging.” 

In other industry news of note, Abigail Ross Hopper, who has served as SEIA’s president and CEO for almost nine years, has announced she will step down at the end of January. 


And, if you’re heading to Austin for ACP’s RECHARGE energy storage summit (Oct. 27-29) or to Reno for the Geothermal Rising Conference (Oct. 26-29), let us know – Bantam will be there and we’d love to meet with you in person.


Read on for more.

It’s Complicated 


Soaring electricity prices have been making headlines across the U.S. for months now. Many observers point to the surge in data centers, while others blame clean energy policies or electrification mandates. But a recent report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory shows these explanations largely miss the mark, finding that electricity rates are rising for different, region-specific reasons – primarily infrastructure costs, extreme weather, and fuel price volatility – rather than any single nationwide cause. Here’s an overview:

  • A major driver is the rising cost of “poles and wires” – utility spending on transmission and distribution infrastructure – which has grown rapidly as companies modernize aging grids and prepare for increased electrification. Indeed, “roughly 44 percent of utilities’ capital expenditures in 2023 went to distribution.”

  • Another key factor is extreme weather and climate-related disasters, which have caused utilities to spend heavily on grid repairs and resilience measures. 

  • State policies, especially renewable portfolio standards requiring new clean energy supplies, modestly raised prices by about 0.4 cents/kWh. In contrast, market-based renewable projects built outside these mandates did not raise prices.

  • Meanwhile, rooftop solar and net metering programs may have modestly increased costs in some states, though the evidence is mixed, and researchers cautioned against assuming causation. 

  • The spike in natural gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was also a big factor, particularly in 2021-2023, as gas-fired generation still dominates the U.S. power mix. 

  • Interestingly, rising demand from data centers and electrification has so far been associated with lower prices – spreading fixed costs over more customers – but researchers warn this trend may reverse if demand begins to outstrip grid capacity.

⚡️ The Takeaway


Not quite, and no cigar. The truth is more nuanced than either camp suggests. While some critics pin rising power costs on clean energy mandates, and others argue that slow renewable deployment is to blame, the data tell a different story. The Lawrence Berkeley study finds no single culprit: most states saw only modest real-dollar increases, and where prices did jump, the reasons varied widely. The biggest factor wasn’t policy or technology—it was infrastructure. Utility spending on transmission and distribution climbed 50% over the study period and now makes up roughly half of all capital expenditures nationwide.

Plugged In and Pressing On


BloombergNEF’s (BNEF) latest 2H 2025 Energy Storage Market Outlook projects the world is poised for another record year of energy storage growth in 2025. The U.S. is on track to have a banner year, second only to China, and will remain a global leader in energy storage deployment for the next decade, despite ongoing policy turbulence and trade barriers. Here are several fast facts:

  • Although BNEF slightly lowered its forecast due to U.S.-led tariffs on Chinese imports and shifting federal energy policies under the Trump administration, 2025 is still expected to be a record-breaking year, with 92 GW / 247 GWh of new global installations (excluding pumped hydro) – 23% more than 2024. Roughly 85% of new capacity will come from grid-scale systems.

  • The U.S. market has remained resilient, adapting quickly to new regulatory and trade conditions, and is expected to account for about 14% of the total 92 gigawatts. Much of this resilience comes from a rapidly expanding domestic manufacturing base, supported by federal incentives and significant investment from foreign battery producers, especially South Korean firms.

  • The U.S. market’s momentum also reflects a broader shift toward longer-duration energy storage. BNEF predicts lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry will continue leading in the near term, but peak within two years as emerging technologies begin scaling up across U.S. and international markets.

⚡️ The Takeaway


Dancing around derailment. For a moment, it looked like Congress might pull the plug on clean energy incentives altogether. The final “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” stopped short, keeping core tax credits in place but introducing new Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) restrictions that will tighten rules on Chinese battery components starting in 2026. Those provisions are already reshaping procurement and adding friction to supply chains, but they haven’t slowed the U.S. storage boom. If anything, they’ve sparked a sprint to get projects in the ground before the new limits take hold.


The (Renewables Energy Waste) Buck Stops Here


Seattle-based startup Buckstop is tackling the renewable industry’s growing waste problem by creating what it calls the “Kelley Blue Book for energy and industrial assets.” Using an AI-powered appraisal platform, the company instantly values end-of-life (EOL) solar panels and other clean energy components to help owners recover value and reduce waste. Rather than recycling or refurbishing hardware itself, Buckstop connects asset owners with a network of recyclers and resellers, optimizing for both economic return and environmental impact.


Co-founder Grayson Shor, formerly Amazon’s senior lead for circular economy and battery sustainability, said the renewable sector suffers from a “lack of circularity.” Today, only 20% of electronics, including solar panels and EV chargers, are reused or recycled, leaving hundreds of billions of dollars in untapped value. Operators often send defunct panels to landfills or pay liquidators for disposal, missing resale opportunities and turning repowering projects into financial burdens.




Buckstop’s system simplifies the valuation process: asset owners enter basic product and location data, and the AI model determines market value and optimal disposition paths. The company’s “algorithmic assay” provides standardized, component-level valuations – something the industry has long lacked.

To date, Buckstop has appraised over $50 million in assets, with a $1 billion waitlist of customer projects spanning solar and EV infrastructure. By quantifying and monetizing EOL materials, Buckstop aims to make clean energy infrastructure more circular and profitable, ensuring valuable materials re-enter supply chains instead of becoming waste. As Shor puts it, “You can’t manage what you can’t measure – and you can’t sell what you can’t price.”
Thanks for diving into the Developer Dispatch with us.
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