Finding US Clean Power Development Sees Record Progress, As Well As Stronger Headwinds

The U.S. clean energy sector saw record solar and battery storage installations in 2024, with renewables accounting for approximately 90% of new capacity. However, progress is hindered by grid interconnection backlogs, rising local opposition, high interest rates, and supply chain shortages. The report also notes a slowdown in EV sales growth and warns that the Trump administration's policies may create further roadblocks to decarbonization.

• Solar and battery storage achieved record installations in 2024, while onshore wind growth slowed. Solar added an estimated 39.6 GW of capacity, bringing the U.S. total to about 220 GW, while battery storage capacity nearly doubled to almost 29 GW.
• Renewables and battery storage now constitute 30% of large-scale power generating capacity in the U.S., and all carbon-free sources provided nearly 44% of electricity in 2024. However, the U.S. is currently adding about 45 GW of solar and wind combined annually, which is below the 60-70 GW per year required to reach 90% carbon-free electricity by 2035.
• Electric vehicle (EV) sales reached a record 1.3 million units in 2024, representing 8.7% of new car sales, but the growth rate has slowed significantly to 7.3% compared to a 49% increase between 2022 and 2023.
• Domestic clean energy manufacturing is expanding, with at least 160 facilities or expansions announced since August 2022. This growth is driven by the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the CHIPs and Science Act, with solar module manufacturing surpassing 50 GW in 2024.
• Grid infrastructure and interconnection queues are major bottlenecks; the active capacity in U.S. interconnection queues is now twice that of all existing power plants, with renewables making up over 95% of those projects.
• Local opposition to clean energy projects increased sharply in 2024, with approximately 15% of U.S. counties establishing clean energy bans, a more than 110% increase from the previous year.
• Supply chain issues, specifically transformer shortages, are delaying projects; lead times for transformers rose from 50 weeks in 2021 to 120 weeks in 2024, with large transformers taking up to 210 weeks.
• The Trump administration is creating new obstacles by issuing executive orders to pause offshore wind leases, freeze fund disbursements, and encourage fossil fuel development, while declaring a national energy emergency to address electricity demand.

APA

Bird, L., Light, A., & Goldsmith, I. (2025). Finding US Clean Power Development Sees Record Progress, As Well As Stronger Headwinds. World Resources Institute. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2026-04/state-of-clean-energy-february-2025.pdf

Chicago

Bird, Lori, Andrew Light, and Ian Goldsmith. Finding US Clean Power Development Sees Record Progress, As Well As Stronger Headwinds. World Resources Institute, 2025. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2026-04/state-of-clean-energy-february-2025.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bird |first1=Lori |last2=Light |first2=Andrew |last3=Goldsmith |first3=Ian |title=Finding US Clean Power Development Sees Record Progress, As Well As Stronger Headwinds |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=21 February 2025 |url=https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2026-04/state-of-clean-energy-february-2025.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bird2025finding, author = {Bird, Lori and Light, Andrew and Goldsmith, Ian}, title = {{Finding US Clean Power Development Sees Record Progress, As Well As Stronger Headwinds}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2025}, month = feb, url = {https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2026-04/state-of-clean-energy-february-2025.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }