Counterspark

06/01/2026

We work on the future for a living. Clean power, a grid that supports communities, and a planet worth handing to whoever comes next.

A future is only worth building if everyone gets to live in it.

This Pride Month, and all year, we're with want to uplift that to explicitly say that it includes the LGBTQ+ community.

Happy Pride.

05/31/2026

Clean energy is already making the grid stronger.

The latest summer reliability assessment found that North America added more than 58.5 GW of new resources heading into this summer, including major additions of solar and battery storage.

That new capacity is crucial as electricity demand rises. Solar adds power to the system. Batteries help when conditions get tight. Together, they give grid operators more resources to work with during high-demand periods.

The assessment still shows some regions facing elevated risk during more extreme summer conditions, so this isn’t the end of the work. But it’s proof that clean energy is worth it.

More clean energy & storage means a stronger, more prepared grid.

05/28/2026

Time is running out for developers to take advantage of tax credits for wind and solar.

Under the federal law passed last July, wind and solar projects have until July 4, 2026 to start construction and preserve the path to federal clean electricity tax credits that make most projects affordable to build.

Projects that start construction after that date generally must be placed in service by the end of 2027 to remain eligible.

That puts huge pressure on projects already moving through permitting, financing, interconnection, procurement, and local approvals.

At a time when electricity demand is rising, policy uncertainty makes it harder to build the affordable, reliable power communities need.

Electing clean energy leadership matters because decisions like this shape if projects make it onto the grid or we miss out on the energy we badly need.

05/28/2026

Wind and solar developers are counting down to a federal tax credit deadline this July 4th.

Most clean energy projects need to break ground by then to qualify for federal tax credits — and be online by the end of 2027 to stay eligible. These dates are the result of Congress shortening the window that projects depend on to get financed and built.

Permits, equipment orders, grid connection approvals, local sign offs, all these take years.

When the policy window shrinks, projects stall or get abandoned. And at a time when electricity demand is climbing, that means less affordable power coming online.

05/27/2026

Wind and solar developers are counting down to a federal tax credit deadline this July 4th.

Most clean energy projects need to break ground by then to qualify for federal tax credits — and be online by the end of 2027 to stay eligible. These dates are the result of Congress shortening the window that projects depend on to get financed and built.

Permits, equipment orders, grid connection approvals, local sign offs, all these take years.

When the policy window shrinks, projects stall or get abandoned. And at a time when electricity demand is climbing, that means less affordable power coming online.

https://seia.org/research-resources/clean-energy-provisions-big-beautiful-bill/

05/26/2026

You've heard the story a thousand times. The temperatures skyrocket in the summer and along with it, everyone's demand for electricity goes up -- to cool the house and the popsicles in the freezer.

This year, you can worry a little less. It's not due to lower temps (they're still expected to be high). It's not due to oil and gas. It's due to more clean energy.

So, breathe a little easier this summer (both literally due to cleaner energy causing less pollution than other forms and figuratively due to a better grid, improved by clean energy).

Nationwide grid reliability has improved since last summer — and new solar and batteries, not aging coal plants, are the main reason.

05/20/2026

Texas continues to lead in clean energy! Folks may think of Texas as a leader in oil and gas, but the Lonestar State has been building clean energy faster than almost any other state.

Why? It makes the most sense not just environmentally, but economically too, and it wins in the free market.

Now, Texas is meeting a new milestone with solar overtaking coal on the grid. Learn more from Canary's article.

The Trump administration likes to cast renewables as a socialist scam, but solar has soared in the competitive markets of the Lone Star State.

05/12/2026

Illinois families saw their electricity bills jump 20-25% last summer. The regional grid capacity auction just hit a record high — meaning another increase is likely coming in June.

Illinois’s answer: pass the most comprehensive grid reform law in the state’s history!

The Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (CRGA) takes effect June 1.

3 GW of battery storage. Virtual Power Plants. $13.4 billion in projected savings. 100,000 jobs created.

This is a forward-thinking affordability strategy built with infrastructure that already exists.

Other states are facing a similar capacity crunch and have to decide how they’ll act before families pay the price.

Federal clean energy policy is in retreat. States that move toward progress anyway — build storage, optimize their grids, and mobilize industry and investment together — are the ones that will protect families from the coming capacity crunch.

Other states should be taking notes on the Illinois strategy!

Pritzker signs Clean & Reliable Grid Act to fund battery storage, VPPs and ICC planning amid shortage warnings.

05/11/2026

Colorado just made it legal to plug solar panels into your apartment outlet + supply the grid + save on your bills. No electrician, rooftop, or homeownership required.

This removes the blocks on balcony solar statewide —opening clean energy savings to renters for the first time!

Gov. Polis signed a bill into law on Thursday making Colorado the third state to clear a path for plug-in solar kits.

05/08/2026

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says wind turbine technicians and solar installers are the two fastest-growing occupations in America over the next decade.

+50% and +42% projected growth respectively.
Median wages of $62,580 and $51,860.
No four-year degree required for either.

But clean energy job growth, like with any transition market, depends on the incentives that make projects financeable — the tax credits, permits, and investment signals that turn a projected installation into an actual one. When those are cut, projects get canceled. When projects get canceled, jobs disappear.

And we can see this happening in real time. A report released this week by EDF found the U.S. lost ~ 5,600 clean energy manufacturing jobs in Q1 2026, alongside $1.4 billion in canceled investments — a direct result of federal rollbacks on clean energy incentives.

By the end of 2024, clean energy employed more than 3.5 million Americans and was growing three times faster than the rest of the U.S. workforce. 82% of all new energy jobs that year were in clean energy.

That momentum needs basic policy support.

For state and federal leaders who say they want economic growth, workforce development, and energy security — wind and solar jobs deliver all three. Rolling back the incentives that support them doesn't eliminate the demand. It just hands off the opportunity to someone else.

What will it take to reverse course before more of those jobs are gone for good?