Electrek Green Energy Brief

Green Mountain Power’s virtual power plant (VPP) – the state’s largest energy source – cut an estimated $6 million from all customers’ peak electricity costs during Vermont’s early July heat wave.

Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, Meta, has quit RE100, the global corporate initiative whose members commit to using 100% renewable electricity. That’s because Meta is bankrolling a fleet of new gas-fired power plants to fuel its expanding AI data centers.

One of North America’s biggest coal-site solar projects is now under construction in Texas – but the coal plant next door isn’t going anywhere. Here’s why.

In May alone, solar-generated electricity exceeded that of both coal and wind, according to new data just released by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), and reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign. 

Global electricity use is growing again, but renewables are expected to overtake coal as the world’s largest source of electricity this year, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Idaho just brought a 125-megawatt (MWac) solar farm online – and construction has begun on another one more than three times its size.

Electronics recycler ERI and rare earth recycling company Cyclic Materials have signed a global partnership agreement to recover rare earths and other critical minerals from high volumes of e-waste. The companies say the deal will create one of the largest commercial portfolios of rare earth recycling feedstock in the US.

Hoymiles has launched the HiFlow Pro, the first US microinverter certified to meet UL 3700, North America’s new safety standard for plug-in balcony solar.

Lithium-ion has long dominated home battery storage, but sodium-ion is starting to make its move. Sodium-ion battery startup UNIGRID has shipped the first units of its Na+Casa residential battery, with the first systems now installed in homes across Europe.

SolarEdge is rolling out its next-generation home solar and battery storage platform across the US, with orders for SolarEdge Nexis now open.

The Trump administration’s rollback of clean energy policies has now cost the US nearly 470,000 jobs and $68 billion in private investment, according to a new report released today.

Volkswagen has traded lawnmowers for sheep at the massive solar farm that helps power one of its factories in Poland, and the animals are doing more than just keeping the grass short.

Sunrun wants to turn thousands of solar-powered homes into a giant distributed AI data center – and pay homeowners to help power the AI boom.

Spanish renewable energy and electricity giant Iberdrola is constructing its first battery energy storage project in the US as utilities race to add more storage to strengthen the grid.

Italy’s largest solar farm is now online, giving the country another boost in clean power as it races to add more renewable energy.

Hitachi Energy has broken ground on a major expansion of its South Boston, Virginia, campus that will become the largest power transformer factory in the US – one of the most in-demand pieces of equipment for the country’s aging, overloaded electric grid.

Renewables accounted for 30.0% of total US electrical generation during the first third of 2026, up 2.2% year over year, according to new data recently released by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), and reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign.

Italy and Tunisia have taken a major step toward building the first DC power link between Europe and North Africa.

Utah’s largest solar and battery storage project is now officially generating electricity.

DHL is turning to VELA for wind power to help move cargo across the Atlantic.

Long-duration energy storage startup Ore Energy has landed what it says is the largest iron-air battery deal in continental Europe so far.