What’s new:
90% of new U.S. power plant capacity added from January–July 2025 came from solar + wind. In July, solar provided 96% of new capacity.
Why it matters:
The vast majority of new power being added to the grid in 2025 is from renewable sources, not fossil fuels. Through July, 9 out of 10 new U.S. power-plant megawatts came from solar + wind. July kept the streak alive, with solar supplying 96% of new deployed energy, marking the 23rd consecutive month that solar has been in the top spot of new deployed sources of energy.
The three-year outlook suggests that this shift will continue, with more solar and wind energy coming online, while coal and oil production decline. However, deployment is likely to be slowed by the administration’s repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act incentives as they start phasing out over the next few years.
Energy Storage Also Sets Record (5.6 GW Installed in Q2).
What’s new:
In Q2 2025, developers added 5.6 GW of energy storage. Most of it was big, grid-scale projects (4.9 GW), enough to help power about 3.7 million homes at peak. Texas, California, and Arizona each put in over 1 GW of storage.
608 MW of that total was home batteries, more than double the amount installed last year.
Why it matters:
Batteries are key to the energy transition. Because renewable energy sources are intermittent (they produce more energy when the sun shines and the wind blows), we must have large amounts of storage deployed to save that energy for when we need it most.
During hot evenings, storms, or power outages, utility companies can draw from that storage to steady prices and keep the lights on.
U.S. factories are currently on track to produce enough grid batteries to meet 100% of domestic demand, but new rules regarding the origin of battery cells could slow some major projects after 2025.
A Short Tribute to Jane Goodall
It’s not going to be breaking news to anyone listening that Jane Goodall passed away two days ago at the age of 91. But I wanted to take a moment to talk about what she meant to me, because I know she meant a great deal to many of us who have worked in conservation or clean energy.
According to the Jane Goodall Institute, Dr. Goodall was on a speaking tour focused on the climate when she passed. Even in her later years, she spent more than 300 days a year on the road, spreading her message of respect and tolerance for the natural world and for one another.
If it wasn’t for her, I probably wouldn’t be working in clean energy right now.
Back in 2020, when I was still working as a teacher in a Title I school, isolated during the pandemic, miserable and far away from my family, and with no idea of what I wanted to do with my life, I listened to an interview of hers. It was her appearance on The Tim Ferriss Show, which I’ve attached below in the sources section.
In that interview, she talks about the need for clean energy and how important it is that we don’t steal the future of the generations that come after us by continuing to rely so heavily on fossil fuels. She mentioned that my generation had challenges ahead of us, that we needed to have that indomitable human spirit, to never give up, and that we’d succeed in building a better world.
It was that interview that planted the seed in my mind that led me to clean energy as a career. So even though I never met Dr. Goodall, she had an outsized effect on my life, and I owe her a debt of gratitude.
Jane Goodall was an incredible force for good in the world, and she will be missed.
Sources:
Solar and wind make up 90% of new US electricity capacity so far this year
FERC: Solar + wind made up 90% of new US power generating capacity to July 2025 | Electrek
US Energy Storage Installations Reach New Quarterly Record in Q2 with 5.6 GW | Wood Mackenzie
U.S. energy storage sets new record with 5.6 GW installed in Q2 2025
Dr. Jane Goodall — The Legend, The Lessons, The Hope (#421) - The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss
