Solar generation to surpass coal in Texas
Utility-scale solar power is projected to surpass coal-fired generation on the Texas grid this year as the region shifts generation away from fossil fuels and toward renewables.
Data from the latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicates a structural shift within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT} market. Solar generation is forecast to reach 78,000 Gigiwatts per hour (GWh) in 2026, surpassing the 60,000 GWh projected for coal.
Texas remains at the front of the domestic energy transition, accounting for 12.9 GW or 53 percent of the utility-scale battery storage planned for the U.S. grid in 2026. It is also anticipated that Texas will account for approximately 40 percent of all new U.S. solar capacity additions this year.
And as goes Texas, so goes the nation with solar and wind generation expected to exceed 20 percent of the total U.S. electricity mix by early 2027. While utility-scale solar and storage will dominate new generation installations, accounting for around 93 percent of new capacity, small-scale solar is also expected to contribute 8 GW of new capacity or about 18 percent more than was installed last year.
Data centers drive 76 percent surge in PJM power prices
Power prices in the nation's largest grid market jumped almost 76 percent in the first quarter of this year, showcasing how energy demand is currently being driven by the growth of data centers.
Monitoring Analytics, the independent monitor for the PJM regional grid, announced last week that the total cost of wholesale power in the region increased to $136.53 per megawatt-hour in the first three months of the year, up from $77.78 during the same quarter in 2025. Retail electricity prices, which tend to lag changes in the wholesale market, have also surged, with average residential rates rising roughly 8 percent to 11 percent year-over-year. Commercial customers are bracing for 15 percent to 30 percent increases absent any regulatory action.
The PJM region covers more than 67 million people in all or part of 13 states spanning from New York to Chicago, including the world's largest concentration of data centers in Virginia and the second largest concentration located in central Ohio.
The report warns that the region could run short on electricity as early as next year. The grid operator noted that the push for data centers is occurring at the same moment when many aging coal and gas plants are being retired.
In addition to increased demand from data centers, reporting from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory points to rapidly increasing natural gas prices, higher costs and supply shortages of gas turbines and transmission equipment, the electrification of industry and transportation - all will result in widespread power outages as well as rapidly escalating prices for electricity within the region over the next few years.
Colorado legalizes balcony solar, mandates meter collar access
Colorado has legalized plug-in solar devices and required utilities statewide to permit the use of meter collar adapters for customer-sited rooftop solar systems..
The new law creates a regulatory pathway for portable-scale solar generation devices, mainly balcony solar or plug-in solar, which typically consist of one to four solar panels and an inverter designed for self-installation by homeowners or renters.
Under the legislation, providers of retail electric service and wholesale energy are prohibited from requiring utility approval prior to the installation or use of these portable-scale solar devices. The bill also bars utilities, homeowners associations and other regulatory entities from restricting or prohibiting the installation, use or operation of such systems.
The legislation also requires the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to revise interconnection rules by the end of this year to explicitly allow customers to use meter collar adapters approved by nationally recognized testing laboratories.
Meter collars are increasingly being used in home solar installations as a point of connection to the grid, rather than at the circuit breaker panel. Utilities often do not permit these connections, claiming that the meter is owned by the utility and cannot be modified. According to the bill, the use of meter collar adapters significantly reduces or eliminates the need for electrical panel upgrades, which can add between $2,000 to $10,000 to the cost of a solar installation.
North Carolina groups fight order to cancel solar for 2026
Last month, North Carolina's top utility regulator abruptly halted Duke Energy's solar farm investments for the year — an unforeseen blow to an industry already reeling from tariffs and hostile federal government policies.
Now, clean energy businesses and advocates have filed a motion to cancel the order, which they argue is not just"arbitrary and capricious," but is also at odds with a 2021 NC state climate law requiring Duke to zero out its carbon pollution by mid century.
In an April 23rd ruling from Utilities Commission Chair William Brawley, he targeted renewable energy installations within the state, ordering that Duke's procurement plans for solar and storage must be put on hold until the company's next carbon-reduction plan is ratified by the commission, an action that will not take place until December 31.
Clean energy advocates say that deadline makes the practical effect of the order unmistakable: eliminating solar procurement entirely for this year — not just deferring it.
Brawley's decision had no input from Duke, the company confirmed, or any other stakeholder, according to public records. Couched as an order "by the chairman," it was signed only by the Utilities Commission's chief clerk, with no apparent votes from the panel's four other commissioners — an extraordinary and, critics contend, illegal action.
Tariff concerns over panels from Ethiopia
The game of solar panel whack-a-mole continues. U.S. solar panel manufacturers have filed a new tariff circumvention investigation request, this time on products coming from Ethiopia. The filing alleges that manufacturers using Chinese-origin components are using Ethiopia as the latest export site to circumvent antidumping/countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders on solar products.
They cite as evidence the recent uptick in imported solar cells and panels from Ethiopia over the last year.
The original import restrictions were placed against Chinese silicon solar products in 2012, claiming that Chinese manufacturers were unfairly dumping low-cost panels into the US market. Producers responded by shifting production to Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam — triggering new import restrictions on those nations in June 2025. Last year a new round of investigations were initiated claiming the export of Chinese panels then moved to India, Indonesia and Laos.
This Ethiopian investigation, if initiated by the Dept. of Commerce and International Trade Commission (ITC), would be the fifth round of anti-dumping investigations aimed at restricting the import of solar panels from the Chinese market into the United States.