Renewable Energy

Renewable energy sources – in particular solar and wind – are growing by leaps and bounds around the world, in great part because the price for them has been plummeting over the years. This has made renewables the lowest-cost source of electricity in many places.

The United States has mostly stopped developing offshore wind, a technology vehemently opposed by the Trump administration. Five ongoing projects have managed to keep going as a result of federal court rulings against the administration. Meanwhile, the government is offering billions of dollars to recipients of offshore wind leases if they cancel their plans and drill for oil instead.

Texas is a red state. It has voted for the Republican presidential candidate in every election since 1980. And yet, as a result of efforts by several past Republican governors, Texas is a national leader in renewable energy, with wind and solar providing over 30% of the state's electricity in 2023. The state produces more wind power than any other state and ranks second in solar capacity.

Battery storage is reshaping the U.S. electricity grid. There are more than 900 utility-scale battery storage projects across the country that enhance grid reliability, manage peak electricity demand, and store renewable energy from solar and wind farms. Most of these facilities are located far from urban areas but the Cormorant Energy Storage Project currently being built is located in Daly City, California, a city of 100,000 people located just 8 miles south of San Francisco.

President Trump has complained extensively about environmental harms to whales posed by offshore windfarms, saying wind turbines are “driving them crazy” and leading to whale deaths up and down the Atlantic coast. However, both federal agencies and independent scientists have found no causal link between offshore wind development and whale deaths.

Renewable energy in the US is facing serious headwinds under the current administration but one area that is absolutely booming is the manufacturing of battery storage technology for the grid. The legislation in 2025 that put the brakes on multiple aspects of green energy maintained the Biden-era incentives for domestic energy manufacturing and grid battery projects.

In mid-March, the final turbine blades of Vineyard Wind, the offshore wind farm sited 15 miles south of Nantucket, were installed. Vineyard Wind is the first large-scale offshore wind project in the U.S. The $4.5 billion project features 62 turbines and is capable of providing clean energy to approximately 400,000 homes.

The sources of U.S. electricity production have changed dramatically over the past 15 years and continue to change as the political winds blow in different directions.

There are vibrations occurring in the ground nearly all the time. They happen when cars pass by, when machines are operating, and from natural forces in the earth’s crust. For the most part, we don’t notice these vibrations. But they are there, and they represent an untapped source of clean energy.

Utility-scale solar power is the fastest-growing source of electricity in the U.S. Well over half of all new U.S. electric capacity added in 2025 was utility-scale solar. As of late 2025, total utility-scale solar capacity surpassed 153 GW, enough to power 45 million homes.