February 6
CPS Energy Expanding Community Solar Program Through RFP
This week's top smart energy news, curated by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC).
Member News
Texas public power utility CPS Energy is expanding its community solar program through a Request for Proposal seeking up to 50 MW of community solar. The initiative supports the utility’s Sustainable Tomorrow Energy Plan (STEP) and reflects its ongoing commitment to delivering reliable, affordable and sustainable energy for San Antonio and the surrounding areas.
The Tennessee Valley Authority saw demand growth of around 1% to 2% in the last three months of 2025, and it anticipates “more robust” growth of around 2% per year for the next five years, according to the federal utility’s investor presentation on Tuesday. “Growing energy demand on our system requires TVA to invest in new generation,” said TVA President and CEO Don Moul.
Between AI and data centers pushing increases in electric demand, supply chain and tariffs confounding infrastructure upgrades, and increasingly erratic weather patterns, utilities are stressed more than ever to keep up. A cursory glance at the news for the electric utility sector paints a picture of an industry in turmoil, leading to rising energy market costs and concerns over transmission planning.
Texas public power utility Austin Energy has been honored with the Consumer Education Award for overhauling the Solar 101 education course to be more user-friendly and to combat solar misinformation, the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC) announced on Feb. 2. SECC is a nonprofit organization that studies consumer behaviors, interests and concerns in the energy transition.
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Industry News
Booming demand for energy storage propelled Tesla’s stationary battery deployments to a fresh record in the fourth quarter of 2025 as its electric vehicle deliveries slowed sharply, the company said this week. Two Korean battery manufacturers, LG Energy Solution and Samsung SDI, also reported strong stationary storage demand last quarter and said they expected more of the same in 2026.
Yes, batteries got cheaper again last year. It’s so predictable at this point, it’s almost boring. Almost. In 2025, the average price of a lithium-ion battery pack was $108 per kilowatt-hour, down 8% from the year prior, according to research firm BloombergNEF’s latest annual survey. It’s the continuation of a long-standing trend: With the exception of 2022, battery prices have declined every single year since 2010, when BNEF began looking at the data.
During the next decade, the North American bulk power system will experience intensifying resource adequacy risks, according to a new report issued Jan. 29 by NERC, which offers several recommendations for meeting the challenges ahead. “This assessment is not a prediction of failure but an early warning on the trajectory of risk,” said John Moura, Director of Reliability Assessment and Performance Analysis.
“How many of you have read a book or seen a movie or a TV show about robots or AI trying to kill you?” Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, co-founder and CEO of Zipline, asked a crowd of thousands of energy industry professionals on Monday night. An affirmative cheer washed over the historic Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, site of the DTECH 2026 keynote.
