Category: Opinion & Perspective

The Long Game on Energy Affordability in the US

The Long Game on Energy Affordability in the US

Sep 28, 2026 |

As electricity costs rise and states make important decisions about energy affordability, the most successful approaches protect consumers today while continuing to invest in energy efficiency and clean energy resources that lower bills over time. As the war in Iran drives up energy prices and as heat waves blanket much of the country, Americans’ electricity bills are rising. Energy efficiency improvements are some of the most cost-effective tools available to help make homes more comfortable and lower household energy costs. But while these improvements save households money over time, their upfront costs make them an easy target for policymakers seeking to lower consumers’ energy bills in the short term.

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US States Drive Data Centre Investment in Virtual Power Plants

US States Drive Data Centre Investment in Virtual Power Plants

Sep 21, 2026 |

In November 2025, RMI published a report making the case that off-site demand flexibility, energy efficiency, and distributed generation can help meet rapidly growing data center electricity demand while lowering costs, improving reliability, and reducing the need for new fossil generation. The report outlined how data centers and other large electricity customers could help finance and scale distributed capacity. Since the report’s publication, new laws, commission decisions, and utility proposals have begun creating pathways for large customers to fund distributed capacity, for utilities to evaluate it as a grid resource, and for that capacity to deliver tangible benefits to participating customers. The design of these pathways will shape the types of transactions that are possible, the willingness and ability of data centers to pay for distributed capacity, and the potential scale of future investments.

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Europe’s Existing Buildings Could Shape Its Climate Future

Europe’s Existing Buildings Could Shape Its Climate Future

Sep 21, 2026 |

Europe’s climate transition is unfolding in places most people know intimately: the apartment blocks where families start their mornings, the schools and offices that shape daily routines, the streets where old buildings tell the story of generations. These spaces also represent one of Europe’s biggest climate challenges. Buildings account for around 40% of the EU’s energy consumption and more than a third of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, making the built environment one of the most important frontiers in the race towards climate neutrality. Across Europe, cities are beginning to move beyond individual buildings and looking at the entire system around them. Through NetZeroCities, municipalities are testing new ways to renovate neighbourhoods, rethink construction, redesign energy systems and create models that others can adapt.

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Top 10 Countries Scaling Renewable Energy the Fastest

Top 10 Countries Scaling Renewable Energy the Fastest

Sep 14, 2026 |

Increasing solar and wind generation from 17% to more than 57% by 2030 requires a rapid pace of change. The growth rates of leading countries are a good indicator of what the top speed for global growth can feasibly be. No country has ever grown solar and wind over a five-year period at an average annual rate faster than the rate the world now needs to reach that 2030 target. However, countries like Uruguay, Namibia, the Netherlands and Denmark have come very close, achieving about three-quarters of the annual global growth rate required from 2025 to 2030. Other countries like Lithuania, Chile and Jordan have also expanded solar and wind generation at remarkable rates, growing multiple times faster than the historical global average.

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Connected, Not Clean: The ASEAN Power Grid’s Real Test

Connected, Not Clean: The ASEAN Power Grid’s Real Test

Aug 24, 2026 |

The ASEAN Power Grid stands as a symbol of regional cooperation at a time of great uncertainty in energy markets. Even if interconnection proceeds flawlessly on time and within budget, the electricity surging through these cross-border lines might not deliver the sustainable, green future governments have promised. The ASEAN Power Grid is transmission infrastructure. It moves electricity across borders; it doesn’t generate it. This distinction is important because the grid is being financed and praised as a climate project. But building it and cleaning up the region’s power supply are two different achievements. A grid can be finished, funded and celebrated and still fail to deliver on sustainability, as the outcome depends on what the member states feed into it.

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Making EU Electrification Smart and Fair

Making EU Electrification Smart and Fair

Aug 10, 2026 |

As conflict in Iran disrupted global oil and gas supplies, the gas price volatility from this disruption added roughly EUR 13 billion to the EU’s wholesale electricity bill, and this could have been much higher. Fortunately, renewable electricity accounted for around 44% of EU generation, which the EEA estimates has saved the EU approximately €29 billion. To fulfill its potential, electrification needs to form part of a smart and resilient energy system, ensuring renewable electricity can flow where and when it is needed. Achieving this will require scaling up investment in modernising grid networks and relying on an array of flexible options and technology such as energy storage, interconnectors and smart meters for demand-side flexibility.

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What Worked: Early Wins from South Africa’s First Just Energy Transition Partnership

What Worked: Early Wins from South Africa’s First Just Energy Transition Partnership

Aug 3, 2026 |

Just energy transitions are difficult, especially for emerging economies such as South Africa, where decarbonisation must be balanced with economic development, employment and energy security. Since its launch at COP26 in 2021, the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) sought to meet this challenge through international finance, political commitment, and coordinated planning. The partnership has faced legitimate criticism. Progress has been slower than anticipated, financing has not always matched expectations, and differences in priorities between South Africa and its international partners have shaped implementation. Yet, the JETP has delivered important early gains that provide a foundation for further progress.

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US Local Governments Are Redefining the Clean Energy Blueprint

US Local Governments Are Redefining the Clean Energy Blueprint

Jul 24, 2026 |

Recent federal policy decisions combined with rising energy demand are contributing to an immediate set of challenges for Americans: volatile electricity prices and growing concerns about affordability and reliability. Local governments are applying a range of strategies. They are leveraging municipal assets to host clean energy projects, streamlining local ordinance and permitting processes, making the most of limited remaining clean energy incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act for battery storage and geothermal projects, and exploring how to integrate localized energy generation and storage technologies to increase community and grid resilience.

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How Turning Brownfields into Brightfields Can Help American States Meet Energy Goals and Strategically Reuse Land

How Turning Brownfields into Brightfields Can Help American States Meet Energy Goals and Strategically Reuse Land

Jul 13, 2026 |

Energy system has always required land. Communities face competing needs and goals that inform how they use their land. At the same time, communities are also grappling with rising energy demand driven by new domestic manufacturing, data center expansion, and the electrification of vehicles and buildings. While solar and wind are now among the most cost-effective sources of new electricity, deploying them at scale is not just a question of cost. Projects often face siting constraints, permitting delays, interconnection challenges, and community opposition. Brightfields offer one way to meet growing energy demand while reusing previously developed land and reinvesting in communities.

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US Can’t Afford to Slow Down on Climate Action

US Can’t Afford to Slow Down on Climate Action

Jul 6, 2026 |

US stands at a critical junction on the road to a clean energy future, and states must decide for themselves how to forge ahead. Against the backdrop of the Trump administration continuing to throw up every conceivable climate and clean energy roadblock, many states are still forging ahead on climate progress. As Americans face mounting economic challenges due to inflation driven by energy prices and the rising costs of essential goods and services, some state leaders are becoming more cautious about championing strong climate policy because of concerns about affordability. Creative policy solutions exist to help individual states create their own paths to move forward on climate and clean energy progress while meeting the moment by being responsive to today’s changing electricity landscape and political concerns.

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Can Conventional Energy Expertise Bridge the Skill Gap in Energy Transition?

Can Conventional Energy Expertise Bridge the Skill Gap in Energy Transition?

Jun 24, 2026 |

Oil and gas expertise can support the renewable energy transition when it is applied honestly, selectively, and with measurable results. Its best uses are in offshore wind, geothermal energy, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, methane reduction, safety systems, and large-scale project delivery. But expertise is not the same as progress. If traditional energy companies continue to prioritise fossil fuel expansion while using clean energy language for reputation, they will slow the transition rather than support it. The real question is not whether oil and gas knowledge has value. It does. The better question is whether that knowledge will be used to protect old systems or build cleaner, safer, and more reliable energy infrastructure for the future.

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Data Center Regulations Create Demand for Solar-plus-Storage in the US

Data Center Regulations Create Demand for Solar-plus-Storage in the US

Jun 23, 2026 |

Amazon, Meta, Google, and Microsoft currently account for 49 per cent of all corporate clean power purchase agreements (PPA) volumes globally in 2025, contracting more than 27 GW between the four of them. The interesting change is that generation mixes are becoming more and more firm, as developers selling baseload-like products such as co-located solar-plus-storage, hybrid wind plus solar represented seven of the top 10 PPA sellers. Google signed 1 GW of solar with TotalEnergies in Texas alone. This massive increase in procurement is being caused by multiple state mandates that makes new clean energy a safe path forward for data center operators, and it’s creating near-guaranteed demand for solar-plus-storage developers.

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Unlocking the Huge Solar Potential in Massachusetts’s Environmental Justice Communities

Unlocking the Huge Solar Potential in Massachusetts’s Environmental Justice Communities

Jun 1, 2026 |

Massachusetts has tremendous solar potential in environmental justice neighborhoods. Activating this resource is key to fulfilling the state’s decarbonization and affordability goals. This is particularly vital as energy costs have become an everyday point of discussion for Massachusetts families, businesses, and policymakers. High prices during one of the coldest winters in years forced too many families to keep their homes at unsafe temperatures. BTM solar and storage are proven technologies that have a lot to offer to the Commonwealth, and in particular, to its most vulnerable populations. Advancing these resources in EJ communities is key for addressing the energy affordability crisis.

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Shenzhen, China, Pioneers ‘Near-Zero Carbon Communities’

Shenzhen, China, Pioneers ‘Near-Zero Carbon Communities’

May 25, 2026 |

In Shenzhen’s Houhai Central District, summer temperatures climb higher each year. For residents in dense, aging apartment blocks, staying cool isn’t just a matter of comfort; it’s a matter of cost. People are relying more heavily on air conditioners for relief. Electricity bills are surging as a result. Residents want lower bills, cooler streets and better neighborhoods. Shenzhen is prepared to give it to them. The city is in the process of implementing 113 near-zero carbon demonstration projects, an ambitious plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions, reduce energy costs and build a greener future.

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Europe’s 2026 Energy Crisis: How Geopolitics Is Reshaping the Green Transition

Europe’s 2026 Energy Crisis: How Geopolitics Is Reshaping the Green Transition

May 4, 2026 |

The resurgence of geopolitical conflict in the Middle East has sent shockwaves through global energy markets. Oil prices have surged above $100 per barrel, while disruptions to the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for roughly 20% of global oil and gas flows, have intensified concerns about supply security and price volatility. For Europe, this moment represents both a stress test and a potential turning point. Whether this moment ultimately strengthens or weakens the green transition in Europe will depend on political choices. Policies that cushion households from price shocks, invest in infrastructure, and frame climate action as a pathway to security rather than sacrifice will be essential.

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Surprising Lessons from Scaling Renewables in the US and China

Surprising Lessons from Scaling Renewables in the US and China

Apr 27, 2026 |

As global demand for electricity rises, driven in part by the rapid buildout of AI data centers, the pace of the energy transition increasingly depends on whether low-carbon power is available to meet that demand. Solar and wind energy, core technologies in the transition, have scaled rapidly in many countries over the past decade, most notably in China and the US. And yet, deployment is uneven in both nations. Some provinces and states have seen a massive ramp-up in solar and wind capacity; others have witnessed halting or stalled progress, even where the underlying resources are abundant.

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Energy Security in the Shadow of War: How SEA Countries are Navigating the 2026 Fuel Crisis

Energy Security in the Shadow of War: How SEA Countries are Navigating the 2026 Fuel Crisis

Apr 6, 2026 |

When the Middle East conflict escalated into an open war, the subsequent blockade of the Strait of Hormuz on 4 March sent immediate shockwaves through the global energy market. For the CASE countries—Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam—this represented an existential threat, as one-fifth of global oil and gas supplies normally pass through this chokepoint and Southeast Asian countries import around 56% of their crude oil from the Middle East. The supply blackout and the skyrocketing price of fossil fuels have forced governments to prioritise supply security through domestic reserves, stockpiling, and fuel diversification.

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A Green Economy Could Propel Southeast Asia’s Growth and Protect the Environment

A Green Economy Could Propel Southeast Asia’s Growth and Protect the Environment

Mar 23, 2026 |

ASEAN has strong comparative advantages and leadership potential in several green sectors. Renewable energy—particularly solar, wind, hydropower, and geothermal—stands out, given the region’s abundant natural resources and the need to meet rapidly rising energy demand. Scaling clean energy can help deliver reliable and sustainable power while strengthening industrial competitiveness. Southeast Asian countries need coherent, credible, and long-term policy frameworks to unlock green investments at scale.

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Spain’s defence lies in solar energy

Spain’s defence lies in solar energy

Mar 23, 2026 |

Geopolitical instability once again reminds us of an uncomfortable reality: energy remains one of the main sources of strategic vulnerability for Western countries. The current escalation of tensions in the Middle East — involving key actors at the centre of the global energy balance — has reopened the debate about dependence on imported fossil fuels. Every crisis in that region has almost immediate effects on international oil and gas markets, with direct repercussions on energy prices, inflation and the economic stability of importing countries such as Spain.

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‘Plug-In Solar’ Has Faced Major Red Tape in Most US States. That Could Soon Change

‘Plug-In Solar’ Has Faced Major Red Tape in Most US States. That Could Soon Change

Mar 16, 2026 |

With electricity prices up nearly 30% since 2010 across the United States, governors and state policymakers are under growing pressure to help households manage rising energy costs. Many are now turning to an emerging technology gaining traction in Europe: plug-in solar, also known as balcony solar.  For the roughly one‑third of U.S. households who rent or for those living in apartments, rooftop systems have largely been out of reach, making plug‑in solar a practical, affordable and viable option for households that have been locked out of the clean energy transition.

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