While the federal landscape for solar energy has shifted toward more restrictive policies and spending cuts, state efforts to expand deployment are increasingly shaping the pace and direction of growth.
Energy storage is gaining strategic importance as electricity demand surges and grid modernization accelerates across the U.S. Recent legislative and policy actions signal a growing shift toward scaling and integrating battery storage into grid operations.
Amid mounting electricity demand driven by data centers, the U.S. nuclear power industry is entering an era of growth, supported by strategic federal actions, such as strengthening the fuel supply chain, alongside state efforts to preserve the existing fleet and prepare for next generation reactors. These measures complement recent approvals of 20-year license extensions for 13 reactors across the U.S.
U.S. carbon markets are closing out the year with record prices and strong auction demand, reflecting the growing maturity of emissions trading as state participation evolves. Market performance remains strong across the Northeast and West, even as Pennsylvania withdraws from regional participation.
As federal incentives recede and national fuel economy standards face rollback, momentum for transportation electrification is shifting to states, where regulators are expanding planning efforts, grid upgrades, and charging programs to support continued electrification.
Federal agencies have taken multiple steps in recent months to accelerate fossil fuel development, including new leasing opportunities, investments to expand the U.S. coal industry, and revisions to regulatory requirements for oil and gas producers.
U.S. grid operators and utilities are intensifying winter preparedness efforts to ensure reliable electricity supplies, even as rising demand and supply constraints heighten the risk of energy shortfalls during extreme cold events.
States and regulators across the U.S. are expanding clean heat programs to lower building-sector emissions while reducing long-term energy costs.
Long-term resource plans of electric utilities across the U.S. reflect the growing role of energy storage in integrated resource planning, with multi-gigawatt portfolios designed to support grid reliability, manage rapid load growth, and complement solar and wind resources.
A growing number of states are establishing distinct rate classes and tariffs for large energy users, such as data centers, to ensure these customers bear the full costs and risks of their significant grid impacts and protect other ratepayers from undue cost-shifting. These state actions come amid a broad federal push to support data center growth through streamlined regulation and infrastructure development.
Regulators across the U.S. are advancing new policies to update electric system planning frameworks, strengthen grid reliability and resilience, and better integrate clean energy and emerging technologies.
States across the U.S. are advancing efforts to strengthen and clarify regulatory frameworks for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), even as federal priorities shift. Carbon sequestration is the process of injecting carbon dioxide (CO2) deep underground, preventing it from entering the atmosphere.