Category: Mega Trends & Analysis America

IESO’s Planning Outlook: New loads trigger transmission needs across Ontario

IESO’s Planning Outlook: New loads trigger transmission needs across Ontario

July 20, 2026 |

The Independent Electricity System Operator’s (IESO) 2026 Annual Planning Outlook (APO), released in March 2026, identifies system needs from 2027 to 2050 and outlines the actions needed to meet them. This annual planning exercise draws on market intelligence, forecast data, models and studies, and includes a long-term projection of Ontario’s electricity needs. For the first time, the IESO has introduced three demand scenarios – Reference, High, and Low – alongside a new “growth margin” concept that distinguishes uncertain and variable sources of demand growth from stable baseline demand.

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US installs 7.8 GWdc of Solar Capacity in Q1 2026

US installs 7.8 GWdc of Solar Capacity in Q1 2026

June 15, 2026 | , ,

The US solar industry installed 7.8 GWdc of capacity in Q1 2026, a 27% decline from Q1 2025 and a 42% decline compared with Q4 2025. The residential segment installed 1,179 MWdc of solar capacity, increasing 6% year-over-year and declining 15% quarter-over-quarter. The commercial segment installed 523 MWdc, declining 4% year-over-year and 25% quarter-over-quarter. The community solar segment installed 247 MWdc, declining 4% year-over-year and 67% quarter-over-quarter. The utility-scale segment installed 5.9 GWdc, declining 34% year-over-year and 45% quarter-over-quarter.

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US BESS Deployments Rise By 32% in Q1 2026: SEIA

US BESS Deployments Rise By 32% in Q1 2026: SEIA

May 25, 2026 | ,

Q1 2026 saw BESS deployments of just under 10 GWh, up 32% compared to Q1 2025. The utility-scale market accounts for over 75% of deployments, as developers continue to see growing markets in capacity, energy arbitrage, and long-term contracts. Residential BESS deployments in Q1 2026 reached 515 MWh across the U.S., representing a 28% decrease compared to Q1 2025. Data center growth in the U.S. is leading to a variety of energy storage approaches from facility developers. The U.S. policy landscape for BESS over the last 12 months has been a balancing act between domestic manufacturing ambitions, immediate grid needs and energy security.

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America’s Messy but Unstoppable Transition to EVs

America’s Messy but Unstoppable Transition to EVs

May 4, 2026 | ,

While the EV adoption curve has slowed in the U.S., the underlying technological and investment momentum makes the shift inevitable, with deep implications for labor, local economies and infrastructure. Ensuring a successful transition will require a multifaceted approach involving careful planning, workforce training, public-private collaboration and adaptation to policy and market uncertainties. The EV transition is at a crucial juncture where sustained, long-term investment depends on a stable policy framework, especially at the federal level, ensuring the industry continues to grow. If done right, the EV transition can still be a win-win for the U.S. economy, workers and climate goals.

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Renewables will increase across all US regions by 2050: EIA Report

Renewables will increase across all US regions by 2050: EIA Report

April 20, 2026 | ,

After 15 years of nearly flat U.S. electricity consumption, demand has increased by 2.1% per year, on average, over the last five years. Electricity consumption will continue growing through 2050 at a rate of 0.9% to 1.6%, with data center server energy use a major factor. Energy use in commercial buildings, home to data center activity, grows more rapidly than in the residential or industrial sectors in all modeled cases. AI servers will increasingly skew more energy intensive, the installed stock of AI servers grows exponentially through at least 2040, and computational efficiency will increase over time. 

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Impact of AI Growth on the US Electric Grid

Impact of AI Growth on the US Electric Grid

February 16, 2026 | ,

While the outlook for data centers and their energy needs remains uncertain, future solutions must leverage robust policy instruments to spur technological and/or operational changes. Data centers may be able to improve grid reliability by reducing their power usage during peak periods; however, it is unclear which incentives would best encourage these practices. Theoretical solutions must be translated into effective, real-world policy initiatives that consider economic, political, and social realities as well as technological feasibility. Rigorous policy, economic, and engineering will facilitate successful reforms.

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Offshore Wind Potential in Atlantic Canada

Offshore Wind Potential in Atlantic Canada

February 9, 2026 | ,

Atlantic Canada possesses one of the strongest and most extensive offshore wind resources in North America. Newfoundland and Labrador have the single largest provincial potential, with an estimated ~473 GW of buildable capacity. New Brunswick’s offshore wind potential is more moderate in scale compared to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, but still significant at ~37 GW of buildable capacity. Prince Edward Island offers a smaller but high-quality offshore wind resource, with ~9.5 GW of buildable capacity. Nova Scotia shows one of the strongest offshore wind profiles in Atlantic Canada with a total buildable capacity of ~434 GW.

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US installs 11.7 GWdc of Solar Capacity in Q3 2025: Report

US installs 11.7 GWdc of Solar Capacity in Q3 2025: Report

December 22, 2025 | , ,

The US solar industry installed 11.7 GWdc of capacity in the third quarter of 2025, a 20% increase from Q3 2024 and a 49% increase compared with Q2 2025. The distributed solar segments had a mixed quarter while utility solar saw substantial build out. Residential solar had another quarter over 1 GWdc – despite the industry-wide rush to sell and install projects before the Section 25D tax credit expiration, module availability has constrained project completions. Commercial solar grew year-over-year but declined from Q2 2025, with California’s NEM 2.0-driven pipeline starting to wane. Meanwhile, the community solar segment continued its decline.

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Voluntary Carbon Market Can Help Advance U.S. Energy, Trade, and Innovation Strategies: Bipartisan Policy Center

Voluntary Carbon Market Can Help Advance U.S. Energy, Trade, and Innovation Strategies: Bipartisan Policy Center

December 1, 2025 | ,

A robust voluntary carbon market can advance U.S. economic and national security interests both domestically and abroad. Just like any other market, the VCM will require certain guardrails and support if it is too mature and scale and to deliver on its potential. Federal support does not require top-down regulation. Targeted actions could help deliver on the areas above and reinforce the role of high-integrity credits in broader U.S. economic, climate, and trade strategy. As the federal government looks to maintain U.S. leadership in innovation and energy, thoughtful policy for the VCM can play an important role.

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Ontario’s Power Transformation: Integrated plan tackles unprecedented demand surge

Ontario’s Power Transformation: Integrated plan tackles unprecedented demand surge

October 6, 2025 | ,

Ontario is embarking on an unprecedented energy transformation. The Independent Electricity System Operator’s 2025 Annual Planning Outlook (APO) projects that the province’s electricity demand will surge 75 per cent by 2050, reaching 262 TWh annually. This is equivalent to adding four-and-a-half cities the size of Toronto (Ontario’s capital city) to the grid. Through Indigenous partnerships, competitive procurement frameworks and coordinated regional planning, Ontario is building the transmission foundation necessary to support electrification, economic growth and energy security for generations to come.

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US installs 7.5 GWdc of Solar Capacity in Q2 2025: Report

US installs 7.5 GWdc of Solar Capacity in Q2 2025: Report

September 18, 2025 | , ,

The US solar industry installed 7.5 GWdc of capacity in the second quarter of 2025, a 24 per cent decline from Q2 2024 and a 28 per cent decrease compared with Q1 2025. Every segment saw declining volumes except for commercial solar, where a strong pipeline of projects under California’s former net metering regime continues to come online. Second quarter residential solar installations landed just over 1 GWdc as high interest rates and economic uncertainty continue to suppress demand. Several bankruptcies of major residential solar companies also contributed to lower installation volumes.

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Data centers to spur US power demand

Data centers to spur US power demand

August 4, 2025 | ,

It is incumbent on utilities, regulators, policymakers, and investors to investigate claims of rapid new electricity demand growth and to ensure that expectations are based on the latest and most accurate data and models. Although data centers’ electricity use appears to be growing again, exactly how that growth will play out in coming years is deeply uncertain, both because growth in the use of AI is uncertain and because progress in efficiency is uncertain.

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US Energy Storage Market Update

US Energy Storage Market Update

June 30, 2025 | , ,

Despite a q-o-q decrease in storage installations, Q1 2025 new additions are the highest for any Q1 on record. Utility-scale segment additions surpass last year’s Q1 installed capacity. Q1 2025 capacity additions of 1,558 MW in the utility-scale segment represent a 57% increase over the same period last year. California led with 457 MW of installed capacity, followed by Indiana with 256 MW. Arizona and Texas added 255 MW each, and Nevada 200 MW.

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US installs 10.8 GWdc of Solar Capacity in Q1 2025: Report

US installs 10.8 GWdc of Solar Capacity in Q1 2025: Report

June 16, 2025 | , ,

The US solar industry installed 10.8 GWdc of capacity in the first quarter of 2025. Despite both a quarterly and annual decline in capacity, Q1 2025 was the industry’s fourth-best quarter. The utility-scale segment followed a similar trend, with 9 GWdc of capacity, which is lower than both Q1 2024 and Q4 2024. However, Q1 2025 still ranks among the segment’s top quarters ever. Sixty-five percent of the quarterly utility-scale installations were concentrated in five states: Texas, Florida, Ohio, Indiana and California.

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EV market trends in China and India

EV market trends in China and India

June 16, 2025 | , ,

BYD continued to lead light-duty EV sales in China and accounted for approximately one-third of all sales. Geely led among legacy automakers: Nearly 34% of its LDV sales were EVs, a 14-percentage-point increase from 2023. Compared with 2023, absolute PHEV sales in China nearly doubled, rising from 2.4 million to 4.5 million in 2024. The share of PHEVs among EVs in China rose from 31% in 2023 to 40% in 2024. In 2024, approximately 125,000 EVs were sold in India. This represented nearly 3% of the country’s LDV (four-wheeler) sales in 2024. MG doubled its EV sales share from 23% in 2023 to 47% in 2024. Stellantis and Tata Motors also increased their EV sales shares, from 15% to 22% and 10% to 11%, respectively. Mahindra’s EV sales share remained unchanged from 2023 at 1%. Major global automakers including Suzuki, Toyota, and Honda did not sell any EVs in India in 2024. 

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Energy Investment Trends in US and LAC

Energy Investment Trends in US and LAC

June 9, 2025 | , , ,

The United States has made substantial energy investment over the past decade as part of a broader effort to establish itself in new value chains and supply international markets. It became a net energy exporter in 2019, a remarkable turnaround from its high previous reliance on imports. Clean energy investment in Latin America has grown by nearly 25% in the past decade, highlighting regional progress despite diverse country contexts and transition pathways. Brazil played a significant role in building momentum behind clean energy investment thanks to the country’s enabling environment for investment in solar PV, wind and bioenergy

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Solar Power Outlook for United States and Mexico

Solar Power Outlook for United States and Mexico

June 2, 2025 | , ,

Solar dominated new electric generating capacity added to the US. grid in 2024, accounting for two-thirds of all new capacity. This is the fourth consecutive year that solar was the leading source of new electric generating capacity. In 2024, Mexico’s solar PV market installed 1.6 GW, a 3% decrease compared to the 1.65 GW added in 2023 but a 37% increase over the 1.18 GW added in 2022. Total operating capacity in the country reached 12.6 GW, which constitutes a growth of 15% from 2023.

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Renewables point the way to Mexico’s energy security

Renewables point the way to Mexico’s energy security

May 26, 2025 | , , ,

Mexico’s energy security and affordability are at risk due to its high dependence on imported gas. 74% of domestic gas demand and 54% of the electricity generated in Mexico depend on gas purchased from the United States, making the country, its economy, and its citizens extremely vulnerable to potential geopolitical conflicts and price volatility. Achieving 45% clean energy by 2030 would reduce the country’s dependence on imported gas from the US for electricity generation by 20%. This growth in clean generation, based on the installation of 46 GW of solar and wind energy, would make it possible to avoid any investment in the construction of new combined-cycle power plants.

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US Energy Infrastructure Report Card 2025

US Energy Infrastructure Report Card 2025

May 19, 2025 | ,

U.S . energy infrastructure consists of facilities and related infrastructure needed to generate electricity from various sources (natural gas, petroleum, coal, solar, wind, nuclear, hydroelectricity), and transmission and distribution (T&D) networks needed to move this energy from its source to communities nationwide. To best serve the needs of the public, balanced investments in both generation and T&D systems are essential to ensure reliable performance. These investments, largely driven by user rates, can prevent disruptions to energy services that have become critical to the nation’s safety, health, and economic efficiency. Energy interruptions bear significant costs on U.S. industries and consumers, as even a brief power outage increases production costs and disrupts supply chains.

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Clean Energy Economy in Canada

Clean Energy Economy in Canada

May 12, 2025 | ,

Streamlining Canada involves accelerating regulatory and permitting processes for clean growth projects. Connecting Canada means investing in and accelerating the build-out of critical trade, energy, and transportation infrastructure. Buy Canada has quickly turned into a trendy phrase, but for policymakers the definition should include growing the market for Canadian products. Promoting Canada boils down to expanding and diversifying export opportunities while also incentivizing global companies to build here.

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