J1. Green Tech Industry & Utilities

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has announced a new partnership with international research firm and market leader Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, to release a new quarterly market outlook report, drawing on Benchmark’s proprietary, grid and behind the meter data on US energy storage deployment.

Pan-European Independent Power Producer (IPP) R.Power has signed a long-term optimisation agreement with asset optimiser GEN-I for the Scornicesti utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) in Romania.

Headline News:

• “DOE Prepares To Send Nuclear Waste Cross-Country” • A rail journey years in the making will start from Dominion Energy’s North Anna nuclear plant in Virginia in the fall of 2027 bound for Idaho National Laboratory. A specially designed railcar will be used to move a 180-ton lead and steel cask containing spent nuclear fuel over 2,500 miles. [E&E News by POLITICO]

Railcar for transporting spent nuclear fuel (DOE image)

• “How Climate Economics Got the Risks Wrong” • A study by researchers associated with the University of Exeter and Carbon Tracker argues that widely used economic models underestimate the risks of climate change. They smooth impacts over time, rely on average temperature changes, and ignore shocks, tipping points, and cascading failures. [CleanTechnica]
• “Nova Scotia And Massachusetts Ink Offshore MOU” • The province of Nova Scotia and the state of Massachusetts signed a memorandum of understanding that could see Nova Scotia send offshore wind power to Massachusetts in the coming years. The agreement comes as the Canadian province hopes to launch its first seabed lease auction this year. [reNews]
• “Particle Pollution From Wildfire Smoke Was Tied To 24,100 Deaths Per Year In US” • Chronic exposure to wildfire smoke is linked to tens of thousands of deaths annually in the US, a study in the journal Science Advances found. Tiny particulates in wildfire smoke contributed to an average of 24,100 deaths per year in the lower 48 states from 2006 to 2020. [ABC News]
• “Oregon Bill Seeks Temporary Fast-Tracking For Siting Of Renewable Energy Projects” • Oregon lawmakers are considering a bill that would fast-track siting and permitting of renewable energy projects. The Trump administratio’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” imposed new deadlines on projects, and the state bill may help with that. [Oregon Public Broadcasting]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

The first four of 30 new turbines at the Warradarge wind farm have been erected, with the rest due to be up by August.

The post First four turbines erected on expansion project that will deliver state’s biggest wind farm appeared first on Renew Economy.

A 50MW solar project will be the first in a 5GW vision by the Ngarluma Aboriginal Corporation.

The post Fertiliser giant firms up first leg of Indigenous-backed, 1.2 GW green energy hub appeared first on Renew Economy.

Batteries are going to kill coal generation profits as well as gas. They may do more damage to coal than they do to gas.

The post Batteries may do more damage to coal generator profits than they do to gas appeared first on Renew Economy.

The number of home battery models available through the Cheaper Home Batteries rebate has ballooned by nearly 500 since July 2025, new data shows.

The post Want a Cheaper Home Battery? Federal rebate now offers 1,259 models to choose from appeared first on Renew Economy.

A detailed breakdown of political donations shows fossil fuel contributions to major parties are dwarfed by the scale of coal industry funding of astroturfing campaigns.

The post Coal’s hidden campaign: The shocking spend on astroturfing in the 2025 Australian election appeared first on Renew Economy.

UK investor snaps up two major battery projects, one a solar hybrid, adding to a growing portfolio to replace coal and create a grid with no smokestacks.

The post A grid with no smokestacks: Octopus snaps up biggest battery project and solar hybrid in push to replace coal appeared first on Renew Economy.

Despite federal EV tax credits ending last year, most car buyers who purchase an EV will save money in the long-run. It’s their high up-front cost that’s the problem — right?

Here’s what no one seems to be talking about — used EVs are the same price or cheaper than their gas-powered equivalents. And in the United States, most people buy used cars, not new ones — 3 out of every 4 cars sold are pre-owned.

For the budget-minded, choosing a 2022–2024 pre-owned EV from the ten most common electric models in the United States offers a sticker price on average 10 percent less than a comparable used gas car. For the most popular luxury EVs, such as the Tesla Model S and Ford Mustang Mach-E, used options tend to sell for around the same range as an entry-level to mid-range used luxury gas car.

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A car buyer can begin saving money immediately by choosing a used EV instead of a gas-powered vehicle with the same sticker price. And those savings only multiply with lower maintenance and fuel costs from going electric.

The average American spends more money on gasoline than on electricity and natural gas combined. Drivers who charge daily at home can normally cut their annual fuel expenses $800–$1,000 compared to gassing up at the pump.

If we want to talk about energy burdens and affordability, we have to talk about cars. This single change — switching to an EV — can cut a driver’s operating costs 40–65 percent depending on how they charge.

Big Takeaways

1. Low-cost used EVs cost 10 percent less on average than their gas equivalents, and mid-range EVs tend to be similarly priced. In August 2025, the difference in sale price between a used EV and a used gas car fell to just $897 across all price ranges – economy to luxury.
2. Fuel and maintenance are where EV drivers keep saving. Electricity in general boasts a cheaper cost per mile and more stable and predictable prices than gas, while maintenance costs stay low thanks to fewer moving parts and less wear.
3. Lease returns and trade-ins will only continue to boost the supply of affordable EVs. With almost 75 percent of US EV transactions in 2025 leases, over 1 million EVs are projected to enter the used market over the next 3 years as leases expire.

Past EV challenges have become smaller considerations Battery Life

Batteries are proving to last 10–20 years longer than first expected and most EVs on the road today are operating with their original battery.

Real-world driving has proven EV batteries last up to 40 percent more than predicted in early lab tests. Typical stop-and-go traffic and on-road conditions are less harsh than constant lab cycles, potentially extending the battery’s usable life 300,000 miles or more — more durable than gas engines.

A standard American gas car tends to have a useful life of about 12 years or 150,000–200,000 miles before repairs begin to exceed its resale value.

EV battery replacements are expensive. How long a car battery will last will depend in part on when your EV was manufactured. But many battery replacements are covered by warranty, even for used EVs. Federal law requires a minimum 8-year or 100,000-mile coverage for EV batteries. Some states and manufacturers have extended this to 10 years or 150,000 miles. Most warranties will replace a battery that drops below 70 percent capacity before the eight-year mark. Used or refurbished batteries are also a growing option, which can keep costs down when a replacement is necessary.

Before making a purchase, check the battery age and consider how much you’ll be able to save until you need to make a replacement.

Charging

The convenience and cost of charging an electric vehicle are important factors to consider. While public vehicle chargers are becoming more available, most EV drivers charge at home — often overnight when electricity demand is at its lowest, which could help them save on their electricity bills.

There are two main ways to get a vehicle plugged in at home. Plugging a vehicle into a basic home outlet (Level 1 charging) is one option to consider. This method is even possible in many multifamily homes like duplexes, fourplexes, or low-rise townhouses or condos, with the help of an extension cord. Since this method relies on existing plugs (and a charging cord that was likely included with the purchase of the vehicle), it is the cheapest option to adopt. It will take longer to charge, but most people can just charge overnight.

Level 2 chargers are another option. Faster than Level 1 chargers, these chargers can be installed in a garage or at a parking spot. Level 2 chargers typically cost between $1,200 and $3,000, including materials and installation, but many electric utilities offer incentives that can cover some or all of this cost. 84 percent of the United States is covered by a program that offers EV charger rebates or incentives, according to Briteswitch, which also provides info on local programs.

Roughly 60 percent of Americans now live within two miles of a public charger. 3,300 public fast-charging stations came online in 2025 — meaning in just one year, the number of public fast-chargers grew by 30 percent. This comes despite a rocky rollout for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program. So far, states have tapped only about 2 percent of the $7.5 billion available for DC fast-charging, and now that a federal court has overthrown the suspension of NEVI, projects are again coming back online. By 2030, a fast charger should be available every 50 miles along any major highway.

Electricity prices

Electricity bills are rising across the country due to higher demand, and many advocacy groups, policymakers, regulators, and utilities are working to address electricity affordability and stabilize rising costs. Even as these prices rise, driving and charging an electric vehicle is still going to be cheaper than a gas-powered car over the course of the next decade. Even if electricity prices doubled, an EV would still be less expensive to operate, given the additional maintenance savings.

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As decision-makers implement solutions to reduce electricity prices, the concerns about the cost to charge will likely dissipate. In fact, one proposed method is to lower rates for electric vehicles, which typically can be charged at off-peak hours to avoid the highest demand hours on the grid.

Insurance

EVs are usually more expensive to insure than gas cars, but not always. This can be due to more EVs being luxury cars, repair markets still getting up to scale, and some car components being more expensive. As the repair market grows, costs for repairs — and therefore insurance — may come down.

Used EVs offer relief

The biggest barrier is simply this: not enough people know they could be saving a lot of money by going electric. The next time they buy a used car, they can start saving money right away.

That money is then available for groceries, education, medical needs, and more. One out of three families currently have to pass on these essentials now due to large energy bills. This relief offers breathing room and security.

RMI is exploring many ways to make energy cost less. Learn more about how we can cut energy bills in half.

The post Tired of Gasoline Prices? Here’s a Surprising Way to Save Money appeared first on RMI.

NSW hails biggest and best result yet for long duration storage, with six massive batteries declared winners of latest tender, and at lower prices than previous auctions.

The post NSW awards contracts to six huge 8-hour battery projects, including the biggest in Australia appeared first on Renew Economy.

Headline News:

• “As Solar And Wind Hit Record Levels, Why Are We Ignoring Geothermal Energy?” • A study from Stanford University found that enhanced geothermal systems can “significantly reduce” the amount of wind, solar, and battery infrastructure needed for a transition to clean, sustainable energy while keeping electricity prices competitive. [Euronews]

Geothermal plant in Iceland – that’s steam, not smoke (Gretar Ívarsson, public domain)

• “Spain opens talks on first offshore auction” • Spain has opened a consultation on its debut offshore wind auction. It also asks whether a single, large site should be put on the block or several smaller sites, as well as what capacity should be targeted. Spain has a goal of delivering up to 3 GW of offshore wind by the end of the decade. [reNews]
• “Sierra Club And Partners Rally To Make Polluters Pay For Climate Disasters ” • Last week, Sierra Club joined partners from across the country for a “Make Polluters Pay” Week of Action, a coordinated set of advocacy actions and events aimed at holding Big Oil and Gas companies accountable for their climate mess. It was a week of action. [CleanTechnica]
• “Zelestra Signs Meta PPA For Texas solar” • Zelestra and Meta signed a long-term power purchase agreement for the 176-MW Skull Creek Solar Plant in Texas. The project supports Meta’s goal of adding new capacity to match its operations with 100% clean energy. Zelestra and Meta now have PPAs for about 1.2-GW of US solar projects set to be online by 2028. [reNews]
• “Utility Offers Unique Solution For Residents Struggling To Go Solar” • Provo City Power started SharedSolar, a program for city residents to access solar energy even when they don’t have other means. The initiative uses a community-based solar model but with subscriptions to a portion of a larger solar installation under utility management. [The Cool Down]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

A parliamentary inquiry will examine the scale of the waste challenge looming on the flip-side of Australia's rooftop solar boom – and how to seize the opportunity it presents.

The post Federal parliament launches inquiry into solar panel reuse and recycling appeared first on Renew Economy.

Small, plug-in PV systems are populating balconies across Europe and the US, but many Australian apartment dwellers are locked out of the new solar boom.

The post Balcony solar is powering apartments from Berlin to Barcelona. So why not in Australia? appeared first on Renew Economy.

The new Net Zero Fund will launch in mid-2026 with a $5bn kitty of cheap money for industries wanting to go clean and green.

The post Weaning off fossil fuels: Net Zero Fund offers super-cheap loans to big business for clean energy upgrades appeared first on Renew Economy.

Winter Storm Fern swept across the United States this past week dumping snow and ice and wreaking havoc from Arizona to Washington, D.C. In addition to the tragic loss of life, almost 1 million people lost power, some of whom are still without power, creating difficult and dangerous living conditions, and costing families, utilities, and states a lot of money. During a particularly strained hour on the afternoon of January 25th, prices in one zone topped $1,800 per megawatt-hour — an order of magnitude higher than average prices during the weeks before the storm. Unfortunately, extreme weather events are becoming more common (and more extreme).

How can we better prepare for the next big storm? In a few ways. Strengthening electricity infrastructure and enabling more interconnected transmission infrastructure could have helped reduce both outages and costs. And, on the customer side, improving the efficiency of housing can relieve both grid and cost stress. Updating homes to just a 2009 building code can keep them above 40 degrees Fahrenheit for nearly two days in sub-zero temperatures.

Below, we dive into how our grid can evolve to make the next “Fern” less impactful.

What RMI is doing

RMI provides utilities and regulators with the tools they need to make smart investment decisions on both  large- and small-scale solutions, from transmission lines and utility-scale renewables to efficiency and distributed energy resources. Our resources include The State Regulator’s Role in Transmission, a handbook for US state regulators on how to advance proactive transmission buildout to reduce costs for ratepayers; our Transmission Resource Library, a downloadable spreadsheet with a list of all major reports on transmission going back to 2004; and a webinar that brought utilities, grid operators, and regulators together to discuss how to deploy advanced transmission technologies to boost capacity, improve flexibility, and speed new energy integration.

Sharing electricity across regions

The US grid is made up of geographically distinct transmission planning regions that share power with each other when necessary. For example, if there is low energy availability or high-priced electricity in one region, it can be supplemented with lower-priced available energy from a neighboring region.

During Fern, neighboring regions supported each other wherever possible. When one area had excess electricity, it sent power to other regions facing shortages — but only up to a point.

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Power sharing is limited by contractual and infrastructure constraints. Transmission lines, like water pipes, restrict how much electricity can move between regions. So even if one area has surplus power, insufficient transmission capacity often keeps it from reaching places in need.

Research shows that just increasing the efficiency with which we utilize existing lines can save hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Beyond that, more interregional transmission planning and buildout is necessary to increase system-wide reliability while meeting needs more cost-effectively.

Transmission constraints drive huge price differences

When transmission is constrained and regions cannot share power, electricity prices can vary drastically, even within the same grid.

For example, MISO, the transmission organization that covers parts of 15 states in the Midwest and South, is made up of three different regions: north, central, and south. In the beginning of Fern, cold temperatures and low wind speeds in the northern states made wind power production plummet and constrained gas availability. Meanwhile, their southern MISO counterparts and neighbors in SPP were flush with higher wind generation than expected and a less constrained gas system. As a result, MISO north customers were left paying much higher prices (2 to 15 times as much at times) than their neighbors.

More transmission capacity between these regions could have allowed lower-cost power to serve more customers, providing relief for ratepayers. Similarly, in PJM, which primarily covers states in the Mid-Atlantic region, the limits on transmission availability meant that some customers were paying much higher prices than others. And in Texas, on January 25, average electricity prices between the northern and southern parts of the state differed by more than $700 per megawatt-hour in the real-time market.

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More interregional and intraregional transmission availability could have helped keep prices down for customers. To increase the ability to share power across regions, we need to increase transmission capability on existing lines and plan and build new interregional lines to enable more power sharing.

Strengthening electricity infrastructure

The ice that Fern brought damaged and downed some power lines as well. Initial damage assessments show over 470 miles of affected transmission lines, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power. This was especially damaging in southern states, where the cold temperatures pushed the electricity infrastructure past its limits.

Hardening transmission and distribution infrastructure, for example by using advanced conductors with anti-icing coatings and real-time monitoring sensors, not only protects lines from extreme cold but also boosts grid capacity overall. These upgrades help reroute power and ensure reliable power delivery during increasingly severe and prolonged storms, reducing the need for repeated fixes (as experienced by crews working through ongoing hazards to restore power in Middle Tennessee Electric territory). Finally, strategic undergrounding, though more costly up-front, can further safeguard lines from extreme weather and limit recurring repair expenditures on the same infrastructure.

A grid that works better — in calm and crisis

Winter Storm Fern made one thing clear: the power system we rely on every day is being pushed beyond the conditions it was designed to handle. As extreme weather becomes more frequent, more intense, and more geographically widespread, the costs of outages — in lost power, lost lives, and lost economic activity — will only grow.

A more resilient grid requires both stronger transmission and smarter planning. Regulators play a central role in making this possible by supporting both planned and new transmission expansion and upgrades that deliver broad reliability and cost benefits, including projects that improve interregional power sharing. Legislators can also encourage grid modernization technologies that increase capacity on existing lines as well as threat awareness and responsiveness. And it’s important to take a long-term view of costs, recognizing that investments that reduce outages and price spikes can save customers and utilities money over time.

Likewise, improving home energy efficiency can reduce overall demand on the grid, lower customer bills, and help homes maintain safe indoor temperatures for longer during outages.

Inaction has a cost. Investing now in stronger, more interconnected, and more resilient transmission can help ensure the power system works not just on clear days — but when communities need it most.

The post Winter Storm Fern Highlights the Need for More Resilient Transmission appeared first on RMI.

2025 marked a structural shift in clean energy and community development finance. Federal programs had been providing or promising flexible capital to make clean energy projects less risky for lenders and investors. Many of those programs are now gone. While that has upended workplans and made financing harder, it has not reduced demand nor commitment for clean energy in communities.

Against this backdrop, RMI convened 70 practitioners in late 2025 from green banks, community lenders, regional and commercial banks, and impact investors to surface the most pressing challenges and priorities for 2026. The message was clear: organizations are moving forward, even in tougher terrain. Participants remain motivated and are actively seeking solutions to ensure communities have access to resilient sources of capital for clean energy projects when federal dollars aren’t available.

Across conversations, one familiar but unresolved challenge rose to the top: many community clean energy projects can work on paper, but they don’t fit mainstream capital’s “credit box” — the criteria banks and investors use to decide what they will fund, including cash flow predictability, counterparty credit, and deal size and structure. This misalignment is most acute for smaller deal sizes, in new markets, or with unfamiliar or credit-constrained counterparties.

Federal programs were designed to help bridge these gaps by providing flexible capital that could absorb risk and fragmentation. With that support receding, the work ahead requires sharper execution: clearer roles, stronger coordination, and financing approaches that help projects fit within the credit box without relying on perpetual subsidy.

The convening brought to light four priorities for 2026:

• Fix affordability gap: Strengthen concessional balance sheets for institutions that can absorb cash flow risk and provide products that improve project economics for low-income and underserved customers.
• Address risk perception gap: Map and standardize credit enhancements to build investor confidence and move from bespoke risk mitigation to scalable structures.
• Close market access gap: Identify asset classes ready for standardization and aggregation, and support warehousing to connect small or fragmented assets to secondary markets.
• Resolve ecosystem capacity constraints: Invest in subnational financing ecosystems that can turn localized solutions into investable markets by diagnosing constraints, enabling institutional specialization, and strengthening coordination across the finance stack.

Why Community Clean Energy Projects Don’t Fit Traditional Lending Models

Most climate finance work, at its core, is about moving assets into the credit box. Trying to convince lenders and investors to abandon their risk-return requirements is a dead end; the work is in identifying and addressing the specific frictions that keep otherwise viable projects from being financed.

In practice, clean energy assets tend to fall outside the credit box for one or more of three reasons.

The first is an affordability gap. This is a failure of economic viability where projects don’t generate sufficient or stable cash flows at price points end users can afford, failing the credit box’s cash-flow and repayment assumptions. Even when technologies are cost-effective at a system level, the revenue model breaks at the household, small business, or community level, particularly in low-income or underserved markets. This is fundamentally a cash-flow problem, not a technology or performance risk issue.

The second is a risk perception gap, where assets may cash flow on paper, but investors are uncomfortable with real or perceived risks — including performance uncertainty, counterparty credit quality, or regulatory and policy exposure — and they demand protections accordingly. Unfamiliar risks are frequently overweighted, keeping otherwise viable projects sidelined because investors aren’t confident that assets will perform as advertised.

The third is a market access gap, where assets can’t reach investors who want to buy them. Even when projects perform well individually, they may be too small, bespoke, or scattered to meet investors’ size and standardization needs. Because each deal is different, lenders and investors must spend significant time and money to review, structure, monitor, and service them, and those costs can outweigh the returns. This is made worse by inconsistent deal flow, limited performance track records, and too few actors positioned to hold projects on their balance sheets long enough to enable bundling them, building scale, and bringing them to larger, more liquid secondary markets.

The priorities for 2026 that surfaced in our convening flow from these gaps.

Priorities for 2026 to Align Projects with Investor Requirements Fix affordability gap: address the economics

When affordability is the binding constraint, the solution needs to improve what customers can actually pay, not shift risk around the capital stack. Tools like guarantees protect lenders after default, but they don’t reduce the likelihood of default.

Affordability tools improve project economics. On-bill mechanisms make repayment easier and more reliable by tying payments to utility bills and expected savings. Interest rate buydowns lower monthly payments, improving borrower cash flow. Lease structures can lower upfront costs or shift performance and maintenance risk away from customers. Technology bundling can also lower costs in certain instances, such as when pairing efficient heat pump upgrades with rooftop solar results in more affordable electricity.

2026 priority: Strengthen concessional balance sheets for institutions that directly address affordability, such as green banks and community lenders, so they can continue serving customers with affordable, accessible financing. Address risk perception gap: reallocate or clarify risk

Even when cash flows are adequate, investors may hesitate if they don’t trust the counterparty or don’t fully understand performance risks. This is where credit enhancement tools are most effective. Guarantees can protect against downside outcomes, especially for newer or unfamiliar asset types. Insurance can transfer specific, well-defined risks. Loan loss reserves can absorb expected losses when defaults are possible but limited.

Standardization helps here, too. Consistent underwriting, contracts, and performance data help make unfamiliar risks clearer, more comparable, and easier to price.

Today, credit enhancement tools are often highly customized and designed deal-by-deal. While helpful in specific cases, this fragmentation makes it harder to attract larger pools of capital.

2026 priority: Map and standardize existing credit enhancements to move from deal-by-deal risk support toward structures that enable scale and attract larger pools of capital. Close market access gap: build liquidity pathways

Even well-performing assets can’t scale if they can’t reach liquidity. Moving capital at scale requires a sequence of steps: first, standardizing rules, contracts, and data where appropriate; then, aggregating assets through warehousing or pooling; and finally, accessing secondary markets.

Intermediaries play a critical role in this process. Bond banks and other centralizing entities or capital markets-facing intermediaries can turn small or fragmented projects into investable portfolios or securities. They lower the cost of capital by pooling assets and making it easier to sell or refinance assets once they reach scale.

Credit enhancements may be required at the point of sale to meet investor requirements. But the constraints show up earlier — in how assets are originated, standardized, aggregated, and held. Credit enhancements can’t substitute for those steps.

2026 priority: Identify which asset classes are ready for standardization and aggregation and clarify which institutions can warehouse and centralize assets to connect them to secondary markets. Resolve ecosystem capacity constraints: strengthen subnational financing ecosystems

Ecosystem and institutional capacity constraints determine whether the solutions to the three gaps described above can be developed and applied effectively.

Subnational financing ecosystems could be a powerful forum for coordinating the problem-solving and action needed in the years ahead. With federal pullback — and because conditions vary widely by place — these ecosystems are where solutions to the three gaps must ultimately be executed.

In practice, however, subnational financing ecosystems are themselves constrained because many places lack institutional capacity, functional coverage, and coordination to deploy solutions effectively.

This shows up today in a few ways. In many places, institutions are too small or undercapitalized to operate at scale; key entities that should play critical ecosystem functions are missing or underleveraged; and coordination remains weak — both among local actors and between local markets and the secondary capital markets they depend on.

Subnational financing ecosystems can become engines for action across the other three priorities outlined above, but only if underlying capacity constraints are addressed through investment in three essential priorities.

1. Diagnosis and learning: identifying which constraints are binding for specific assets and communities, testing solutions, and building a place-based track record over time.
2. Role clarity and coordination: enabling institutions to focus on what they do best and what the market needs — whether customer-facing origination and affordability, credit enhancement, or warehousing, aggregation, and capital markets access — rather than duplicating every function everywhere and competing for the same limited pools of concessional capital. Scaling the right interventions depends on clear, differentiated roles, sufficient institutional capacity, and effective coordination mechanisms.
3. Capital translation: connecting local lending activity to national and institutional capital markets by converting fragmented assets into standardized, investable portfolios and turning local proof points into models that can scale.

2026 priority: Convene subnational financing ecosystems to build ecosystem and institutional capacity by diagnosing binding constraints, clarifying specialized roles, and connecting local lending activity to secondary and institutional capital markets. Building the Systems Community Clean Energy Finance Needs

To overcome longstanding challenges in affordability, risk perception, and market access, the next phase of community clean energy finance must focus on moving assets into mainstream capital’s credit box at scale without subsidy. That means building subnational systems that can do this work and endure as federal support ebbs and flows.

In practice, this comes down to building financing systems that make projects affordable for customers, reducing perceived risk for investors, and creating clear pathways to scale. Rather than relying on one-off tools, the emphasis shifts to how these elements work together consistently across markets.

Delivering on these priorities will require capital sources better suited to long-term market building — and, critically, will create the conditions for more of that capital to participate. Local deposits can anchor community lenders and green banks focused on affordability and origination. Centralizing entities can manage complexity and timing mismatches, aggregate assets and demand, and connect local lending activity to secondary markets and pooled issuance platforms. Institutional investors and bond buyers can then provide the liquidity needed to recycle capital and scale what works.

Progress in addressing binding constraints across affordability, risk, market access, and subnational capacity is connected and reinforcing. The result is a financing system that can support community clean energy investment at scale across regions and regardless of the availability of federal support.

The post Financing Community Clean Energy Projects in 2026 appeared first on RMI.

Headline News:

• “Scott Pushes Lawmakers To Reconsider Nuclear Energy In Vermont” • Governor Phil Scott is asking lawmakers to take a second look at nuclear energy as Vermont works to meet its renewable electricity goals by 2030. “Previous policy decisions made in this building prioritize ideology over results,” Scott said in his budget address this week. [WCAX]

A basis for Investment (NextEra Energy May 2023 Investor Presentation, page 10)

• “Trump Claims China Doesn’t Use Wind Power. The World’s Largest Wind Farm Is There” • Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the POTUS made several dubious claims about Greenland, NATO, and renewable energy. Trump consistently criticised the green energy drive, calling wind and solar power “the scam of the century.” [Euronews]
• “The Assumptions That Broke: China, India, And The End Of Fossil Growth Models” • The idea that heavy freight would be the last redoubt of diesel has been repeated for decades, often with confidence and rarely with evidence. In December 2026, that idea finally collapsed. Battery electric heavy duty trucks crossed 50% of new sales in China. [CleanTechnica]
• “Top Economist Urges Europe To Fight Trump By Punishing US Billionaires” • Leading French economist Gabriel Zucman is urging European governments to respond to Trump’s threats to annex Greenland by taxing the super-rich who might benefit. “Access to the European market should be made conditional on paying a wealth tax.” [Common Dreams]
• “Trump Administration Scraps Multimillion-Dollar Solar Projects In Puerto Rico As Grid Crumbles” • The DOE canceled solar projects in Puerto Rico worth millions of dollars, as the island struggles with a crumbling electric grid. The DOE claimed that a push for renewable energy threatened grid reliability. Local experts refute that. [ABC News]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

Headline News:

• “Trump Rules Out Using Military Force To Acquire Greenland In Davos Speech” • President Donald Trump, speaking at the World Economic Forum, ruled out taking Greenland by military force. He said, “We probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force where we would be, frankly, unstoppable. But I won’t do that.” [ABC News]

Donald Trump (The White House, public domain)

• “Solar And Wind Overtake Fossil Fuels In The EU For The First Time” • A report from Ember found that renewable energy was the source of almost half of EU power last year, despite a drop in hydro power and increased use of gas. Wind and solar led the boom, generating a record 30% of EU electricity and overtaking fossil fuels by 1%. [Euronews]
• “Seaweed Blooms Suggest The Ocean Is Geoengineering Itself” • Just as a tree is on land, seaweed is a living organism that soaks up carbon dioxide when it grows. Clearly, more seaweed can sequester more carbon. A study by researchers at the University of South Florida, published on January 19, finds the ocean may be geoengineeering itself. [CleanTechnica]
• “Europe’s Largest Rare Earths Mine: How EU Funding Clashes With Environmental Laws” • The EU is pouring its financial resources into Europe’s largest known rare-earth project, the Per Geijer mine in Sweden, to reduce its dependence on China for critical raw materials. However, the same EU legal framework threatens to halt this strategic push. [Euronews]
• “Vertical Aerospace Brings Valo To New York, Outlining Plans For Electric Air Taxi Routes” • Vertical Aerospace launches its US tour in New York City this week, bringing its new commercial electric aircraft, Valo, to the US for the first time alongside plans for electric air travel routes in New York with Bristow Group and Skyports Infrastructure. [CleanTechnica]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

Headline News:

• “Experts Reveal Stunning Change In Global Energy” • Energy think tank Ember has published positive new data about wind and solar energy. According to reporting by Electrek, renewable energy is growing so much that it is actually outpacing global electricity demand. And dirty power usage is predicted to remain flat. [The Cool Down]

Wind turbines (Serge Le Strat, Unsplash, cropped)

• “EU Leaders Talk Coordination Over Greenland As Trump Readies For Davos Meetings” • The showdown between the US and its NATO allies over Greenland looks set to be a dominant topic as leaders gather at this week’s World Economic Forum event in Davos. President Donald Trump says US ownership of the island is “imperative.” [ABC News]
• “The World Has Entered An Era Of ‘Global Water Bankruptcy’, UN Warns. What Does It Mean?” • A report from the United Nations University warns that pollution, soil degradation, water overallocation, groundwater depletion, and deforestation have combined with global heating to cause “irreversible damage” to the planet’s water supply. [Euronews]
• “(Another) Record Month For EV Sales In China! ” • Plugins scored another million-plus sales in December, reaching a record 1.34 million units. The overall market was 2.26 million units, down a harsh 14% YOY, so the plugin vehicles’ market share was 59%, while full battery EVs reached a 35% share. The final 2025 plugin share was 54%. [CleanTechnica]
• “NNG Launches Major Seabird Monitoring Studies” •  The Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm is launching one of the most comprehensive seabird and marine monitoring studies in Scotland to gather continuous data on how key bird species behave around operational turbines. The study has a focus on the 450-MW project itself. [reNews]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.