ENB Pub Note: This article was published on LinkedIn by Doug Sheridan, and he covers exactly what we have been talking about on the Energy News Beat Podcast. We need a national discussion around the pricing for all energy sources on the grid. Wind and Solar need to pay for grid resiliency and storage in their budgets with no subsidies.
Bloomberg Green writes, US utilities generated a record amount of energy from renewable sources last year, even as the Trump administration implemented a range of policies to stymie green energy.
Some 1,162 TwHrs of the country’s electricity was generated from renewable Sources in 2025, a 10% increase over the prior year, according to federal data released this week. That represents 26% of all US electricity made enough to power about 108 million US homes for a year.
Some months were even greener; in March, for example, renewables generated nearly one in three of the country’s electrons.
That stands in contrast to the Trump admin slashing incentives for wind and solar while gutting clean air regulations in a bid to help fossil fuels. The economics of renewables, though, have helped them generate a greater share of energy.
While it was a good year for renewables, the surge in energy demand from data centers, EVs and industry also boosted power generated from fossil fuels. That includes a 13% increase in electricity generated from coal. The Trump admin has also supported fossil fuel production and use with grants and orders to delay plant closures.
However, renewables are outpacing those gains, driven by the falling cost of photovoltaic cells, wind turbines and giant batteries. Even without subsidies, renewable installations are now cheaper to build than alternatives in most scenarios, according to Lazard
Amanda Levin, director of policy analysis at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), said the pace of green energy construction may actually accelerate as utilities race to beat deadlines for expiring federal incentives.
The gov’t estimates that 93% of new generation capacity expected to be added to the grid this year will come from wind, solar and batteries. That sets renewables up to generate an increasingly large percentage of all US power. Wood Mackenzie expects renewables, including hydroelectric power, to account for nearly one in three US electrons by 2030.
“The only technologies to be deployed today at scale and at cost are wind, solar and battery storage,” Levin said. “No matter what Trump tries to do, he’s not going to see this resurgence of fossil fuels.’
Our Take 1: Wait, Bloomberg… so renewables don’t really need subsidies? That’s interesting. Are taxpayers going to be refunded all those hundreds of billions in subsidies they’ve been forced to pay under the pretense that it was the only way to make renewables grow?
Our Take 2: You gotta note the unabashed misdirect of this column, especially it’s headline which basically wants readers to believe renewables being installed this year aren’t receiving subsidies. It’s like an opinion piece you’d read in a high-school newspaper.
Our Take 3: Don’t pay attention to organizations that cite LCOE as evidence of an energy source’s cost. It’s a tell-tale sign of low standards and lazy analysis. Just ignore their claims.
Get your CEO on the #1 Energy Podcast in the United States: https://sandstoneassetmgmt.com/media/
Is oil and gas right for your portfolio? https://sandstoneassetmgmt.com/invest-in-oil-and-gas/
Be the first to comment