What’s new
In the first half of 2025, wind and solar made more electricity than coal worldwide for the first time ever. Clean power grew faster than the world’s rising need for electricity, meaning that demand for coal was ever so slightly driven down.
Solar led the way. It jumped by about one-third from last year and met 83% of the new electricity demand worldwide.
The International Energy Agency says renewables could more than double globally by 2030, with 80% of that new capacity coming from solar.
Why it matters
This is a turning point, and China and India did most of the lifting. China added more clean power than the rest of the world combined and used 2% less fossil fuel than the previous year. India’s renewables grew more than three times faster than its electricity demand, leading to a 3.1% decrease in coal generation and a 34% decrease in gas generation across the country.
In the U.S., however, demand outran clean power growth, and coal generation rose 17% in the first half of the year. In Europe, a weak year for wind and hydropower meant gas rose 14% and coal ticked up 1.1%, even as solar kept growing.
Global energy think tank Ember says that more than half of the world’s economies have already passed their peak use of fossil fuels for electricity. Ember’s experts called the clean transition “unstoppable,” since costs for solar, wind, and batteries continue to fall, while the price of fossil fuels remains steady or continues to rise.
So far, 2025 has shown that clean power can keep up with and even outpace demand.
EIA Data Shows That States With More Solar and Wind Power Pay Less for Electricity
What’s new
POLITICO dug into federal Energy Information Administration data and found a clear pattern: on average, states that deploy more wind and solar pay less for electricity.
Of 22 states that get higher-than-average shares of power from wind/solar, 17 had below-average prices in June. 13 of those states voted red in 2024.
In states where wind and solar were deployed faster over the past four years, many saw price increases below the national average, even as U.S. power costs rose 23.4% since 2021.
Why it matters
The current administration is citing high prices as reasons to pause or cancel clean-energy projects, while market data continues to show that new power from solar and wind is cheaper than that from new fossil fuel generation.
When he spoke at the U.N. last month, President Trump labeled wind “the most expensive energy ever conceived,” said “all green is all bankrupt,” and vowed, “We’re getting rid of the falsely named renewables.” His energy secretary, Chris Wright, claimed that Texas has “the most expensive electricity” in the south, even though EIA data shows the opposite. Texas’s power is cheaper than in most neighboring states, and states adding lots of clean energy are more likely to post lower prices or smaller hikes.
The grid needs new capacity fast as data centers and electrification drive demand and higher prices. By far the cheapest way to meet that need is with solar and storage. Blocking those projects will mean higher energy bills for more Americans across the board.
Using price fears to roll back renewables, when they’re the cheapest form of new power, puts consumers on the hook for even more expensive power in the future.
SEIA Launches New Solar Recycling Resource
What’s new
This week, SEIA (the Solar and Storage Industries Association) launched SolarRecycle.org, a free hub to help the industry recycle panels, batteries, and related gear. The site, released alongside SEIA’s first sustainability conference, offers an interactive map of used solar panel collection sites, SEIA-vetted recycling partners, and a tracker of state and local end-of-life laws for solar components.
Why it matters
Since solar + storage make up most new U.S. power additions, planning for the end-of-life of these systems as we install them is essential. Unfortunately, a lot of old solar panels are landfilled currently since recycling isn’t available in most areas. But old solar panels contain components that can be reused.
SEIA’s new site gives companies a real-time resource they can use while they’re out in the field replacing old systems. Hopefully, we see more and more companies taking advantage of this resource.
Sources
World Nearing ‘Crucial Turning Point’ as Clean Energy Outpaces Power Demand - Newsweek
Global renewable energy generation surpasses coal for first time
The government’s own data rebuts Trump’s claims about wind and solar prices - POLITICO
https://www.solarrecycle.org/
