Welcome To 2026. Not a slow start to energy news in the new year but we’ll start you off with a recap of the publishers’ read stories of last year. Plenty of time to see how the conflict in Venezuela impacts the oil markets and if the Google acquisition is a one-off or a sign of what else could be happening. 

• PV-Tech: PV Tech’s top ten stories of the year in 2025
• Canary Media: The 13 clean energy stories we wish we wrote in 2025
• Axios: U.S. oil companies will rebuild Venezuela’s industry, Trump says
• Bloomberg: Solar Panels and Heat Pumps to Be More Expensive in 2026
• New York Times: Cheap Solar Is Transforming Lives and Economies Across Africa
• Reuters: Five energy market trends to track in 2026, the year of the glut
• Solar Builder: New Jersey passes revised “smart solar permitting bill”
• PV-Magazine: Nofar USA wins bid to acquire solar assets of bankrupt Pine Gate Renewables

Opinion

• Utility Dive: Prepaid leases, data center dollars key for DERs in 2026: Enphase executive

Best, Yann

Here It Comes. PJM’s auction is bad for everyone and it’s worse because we knew this was coming years ago. Reaching the price cap and STILL falling short on capacity is a recipe for consumers that don’t have the desired outcome when they hit their light switch. 

Policy 180. After my commentary from last week highlighting Senator Schatz’s disappointment in a clean energy trade association, the association pulled their support from the SPEED Act. But alas, it was too later, as the House passed the bill yesterday. 

• Canary Media: PJM’s capacity costs hit record as grid falls short on supply
• Reuters: US House passes bill to speed permitting for big energy projects
• Politico: Clean energy industry group pulls support for permitting bill after GOP changes
• Utility Dive: Court agrees to rehear $14B climate funding freeze case
• Bloomberg: California Cuts PG&E’s and Edison’s Profits for Grid Investments
• Axios: America’s data center growth hot spots, mapped
• PV-Tech: T1 Energy begins construction at 2.1GW TOPCon cell manufacturing facility in Texas
• Solar Power World: Environmental and renewable energy groups sue IRS, Treasury
• PV-Magazine: Machine learning models identify hidden physical defects in solar arrays

Opinion

• Energy Storage News: ERCOT BESS revenue ‘roller coaster’ is a feature, not a bug

Best, Yann

• Bloomberg: US Lawmakers Investigate Big Tech’s Role Pushing Up Power Bills
• Reuters: Why corporates are getting real on renewables purchasing
• Utility Dive: Clean energy industry preps ahead of impending FEOC guidance
• New York Times: Ford Will Take $19.5 Billion Hit as It Rolls Back E.V. Plans
• Axios: Exclusive: Company lands money to prevent grid crises with AI’s help
• PV-Tech: Acciona Energia sells stake in 1.3GW US solar PV portfolio
• PV-Magazine: U.S. Q3 energy storage deployment grows 31% year-over-year

Opinion

• Canary Media: Texas’ energy market redesign could leave battery developers in limbo

Best, Yann

• Bloomberg: Green Stocks Are Big Winners as Tech Boom Drives Energy Demand
• Utility Dive: Grid-scale battery energy storage systems face heightened risk of cyberattack
• New York Times: The Oilman Who Pushed Trump to Go All In on Fossil Fuels
• Reuters: How tight supply, AI demand propelled copper towards $12,000
• PV-Tech: US solar PV companies are not waiting for FEOC guidance – Crux survey
• Energy Storage News: Li-ion battery pack prices fell 8% since last year despite metals prices rising, BloombergNEF says
• Canary Media: Permitting talks are back, and clean energy is caught in the middle
• PV-Magazine: Analysis finds “anytime electricity” from solar available as battery costs plummet

Opinion

• Axios: Why Trump’s first offshore drilling lease sale didn’t wow the oil industry

Best, Yann