Environment & Energy

America's clean-energy industry is growing despite Trump's attacks. At least for now

March 12, 20255:33 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition
By Michael Copley

Despite the Trump administration's wide-ranging attacks on renewables like wind and solar power, the clean-energy industry is on pace for record growth this year, according to government analysts.

The buildout of big solar and battery plants is expected to hit an all-time high in 2025, accounting for 81% of new power generation that companies will add to America's electric grids, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a recent report. Including wind projects, the share of new power capacity that's expected to come online this year from renewables and batteries jumps to 93%, the EIA said.

The U.S. needs all the power it can get, because electricity demand is surging for the first time in decades, industry analysts and executives say. That means kickstarting development of nuclear power and geothermal projects, burning more natural gas and, in some cases, delaying retirement of old coal plants. But in the scramble for electricity, renewable-energy and battery plants are crucial, analysts and executives say, because they're quick to build and provide electricity that's relatively cheap.

"There is no doubt that the increased demand for electricity over the next decade, coming from data centers and advanced manufacturing, will continue to require vast amounts of renewable energy and batteries," Andrés Gluski, chief executive of The AES Corporation, a power company that owns both clean-energy and fossil-fuel plants, told Wall Street analysts recently.

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December 11, 2024 News Release
Even with Months-Long “Energy Droughts,” the Power Grid Remains Resilient

Understanding compound energy droughts can help utilities plan ahead and invest in energy storage

JoAnna Wendel, PNNL

WASHINGTON, DC—On a power grid partly supported by wind turbines, solar panels and hydropower turbines, weather and climate patterns can significantly affect how much power is produced. And as more wind and solar are added to the grid, utilities will need to understand how seasonal patterns in climate and weather might cause swings in energy generation.

In new research, a team from the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory shows that compound energy droughts—or periods of low energy generation from solar, wind and hydropower simultaneously—can last up to five months and occur most often in the fall.

Importantly, “compound energy droughts don’t necessarily cause blackouts, and consumers may not notice one was occurring,” said Cameron Bracken, Earth scientist at PNNL and lead author on the paper. And in fact, the team found that in the western United States, the sheer amount of non-renewable generation means that even in the worst-case energy drought scenario, there’s still enough energy available to meet demand.

“The question then becomes about the cost of energy and how to effectively deploy energy storage,” Bracken said. “During a compound energy drought, utilities would have to use more energy from burning fossil fuels to meet demand or purchase energy on the market.”

And burning fossil fuels costs more and emits more carbon dioxide. Knowing when a compound energy drought might occur, and how long it might last, allows utility operators to not only plan for how to cost-effectively provide energy to consumers, but also how to invest in energy storage.

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Entergy obtains approval to construct three gas facilities to serve Meta's 2GW data center in Louisiana
Two units expected to come online in 2028, with the final unit slated for operations in 2029 for Hyperion

August 21, 2025 By Zachary Skidmore

The Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) has given the go-ahead for the installation of three natural gas turbines set to power Meta’s planned 2GW data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana.

US utility Entergy received approval from the Commission yesterday (20 August) to construct the three combined-cycle combustion turbine generation facilities. The three turbines are expected to have a combined capacity of 2.26GW.

Two of the units are expected to come online in 2028, with the third facility, built at Entergy Louisiana's existing Waterford site in St. Charles Parish, expected to commence operations in late 2029.

"Today's decision by the Commission is a critical step toward ensuring the long-term reliability and affordability of electric service for all of our customers," said Phillip May, Entergy Louisiana president and CEO.

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