Michelle Lewis

Massachusetts is turning EVs into grid assets, starting with free, bi-directional (V2X) chargers for schools, towns, and residents.

More than 90% of US power outages start on the distribution grid – the part closest to homes that utilities can’t always see in real time – but Sense says it’s trying to change that by pushing fault detection directly into smart meters.

New solar and wind capacity additions in November were the second highest in 2025 and accounted for 93% of that month’s total. Solar continues to dominate new capacity additions and has held the lead among all energy sources for 27 consecutive months, according to data released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign.

Winter Storm Fern knocked out power for millions of people across the US and reignited a familiar political and media fight over what really causes large-scale outages during extreme weather. To separate the rhetoric from the operational reality, Electrek spoke with Leah Qusba, CEO of GoodPower, a research, strategic communications, and campaigning organization focused on advancing the global renewable energy transition.

In this Q&A, Qusba walks through what tends to fail first during major winter storms, what outage data shows about the role of wind, solar, and fossil generation during Fern, why fuel supply and winterization still matter more than the generation mix, and how coordinated disinformation campaigns exploit moments of uncertainty after grid emergencies and what works to counter them.

The US DC fast charging industry slowdown never showed up in 2025. In fact, according to Paren’s new “US EV Fast Charging” state of the industry report, fast charging networks set records last year, with infrastructure buildout and charging demand both jumping about 30% year-over-year.

SOLARCYCLE has started recycling solar panels at a massive new facility in Cedartown, Georgia, signaling that solar recycling in the US is finally moving from pilot projects to industrial scale.

SolarEdge has started shipping US-made residential solar inverters to Europe – a milestone as US solar manufacturers look for export upside amid shifting trade rules, tariffs, and fading domestic manufacturing incentives.

Solar, wind, and batteries are set to supply virtually all net new US generating capacity in 2026, according to EIA data reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign, continuing their strong 2025 growth.

EDP Renewables’ new 150-megawatt solar project is now feeding power into Indiana’s grid, as utilities look for more reliable, in-state generation.

EVgo is betting big on Tesla’s charging standard. After a 2025 pilot that put nearly 100 NACS connectors online across 22 major metro areas, the public fast-charging provider says it plans to scale quickly, with more than 500 NACS connectors expected to be installed by the end of this year at both existing sites and new locations.

EVs are supposed to clean up the air, but finding real-world proof has been surprisingly hard. A new study from the University of Southern California (USC) says the satellite evidence is finally strong enough to measure.

EV chargers that don’t work because they’re stuck offline are still a daily frustration for drivers and a costly headache for operators. Emobi and HeyCharge say they have a practical fix for that.

ChargePoint is adding public EV chargers at rental car locations in Wisconsin, a small but notable expansion of charging access at airports and neighborhood branches in Appleton and Madison – and not just for people renting EVs.

Nine countries, including France, Germany, and the Netherlands, will pledge to jointly develop 100 GW of offshore wind in the North Sea and step up protection for critical infrastructure, Bloomberg reports.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) reported this week that the state passed 2.5 million cumulative new zero‑emission vehicle (ZEV) sales in 2025.

[Editor’s note: Since most of the US is about to get hit with a huge winter storm, I’m republishing these tips as a refresher – particularly for folks who aren’t used to this kind of weather.]

Whether you’re a seasoned EV driver in cold climates or this is your first winter driving an EV, there’s always more to learn about how to get the best range and performance when the temperatures drop.

Electrek asked two experts for smart winter EV driving advice. This is what Richard Reina, product training director at CARiD.com, and Casey Donahue, CEO of Optiwatt, a residential managed charging platform in North America, had to say.

Europe’s power mix hit a tipping point in 2025. Wind and solar generated more electricity across the European Union than fossil fuels for the first time last year, according to Ember’s newly released European Electricity Review. Wind and solar supplied a record 30% of EU power, edging past fossil fuels at 29%.

With data centers projected to consume as much as 12% of total US electricity by 2028, Noon Energy says it has hit a key milestone: successfully operating a scaled-up, ultra-long-duration energy storage system for thousands of hours, capable of delivering clean power continuously for more than 100 hours at a time.

Solar continues to dominate new capacity additions and has held the lead among all energy sources for 26 consecutive months. As a result, installed utility-scale solar capacity now exceeds wind capacity for the first time, according to data released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign.

DC fast charging is expanding across Queens and Long Island, as Kempower and GET Charged Fast EV Charging begin rolling out a new network of public DC fast‑charging sites in busy neighborhood shopping centers.

Wawa, the biggest Tesla Supercharger host, has joined Tesla’s Supercharger for Business program and launched its first self-branded site.

Rondo Energy and Covestro broke ground on a new kind of industrial heat battery at Covestro’s Brunsbüttel chemical site in northern Germany, and it’s designed to do something industry desperately needs: make clean, reliable steam without burning fossil fuels.

Solar didn’t just show up in 2025 – it carried the grid. A new analysis from global energy think tank Ember shows that solar power accounted for 61% of the growth in US electricity demand last year, highlighting how central solar has become as power demand accelerates.

In a setback to Trump’s anti-offshore wind crusade, a federal judge today issued an order granting Dominion Energy’s request for a preliminary injunction allowing construction to resume on the US’s largest wind farm, the 2.6-gigawatt (GW) Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project.