January 31
How to Message for Your Demand Response Program
Top consumer smart energy news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
Member News
Rising demand and grid reliability remain top concerns in 2025 for the energy sector, driven by energy-hungry data centers and AI, electrification efforts and the volatile weather patterns and temperature extremes caused by climate change that damage infrastructure and/or increase demand.
The Department of Energy predicts that up to 160 GW of new resources will be needed by 2030 to meet U.S. electricity demand. At the same time, Wood Mackenzie reports that the U.S. will add 262 GW of distributed energy resources between 2023 and 2027 – an amount nearly equivalent to the construction of all new centralized generation.
Duke Energy Florida said earlier this week that all 10 of its new Clean Energy Connection solar energy sites are now fully operational. The company said it has successfully delivered on its commitment – part of a 2020 filing with the Florida Public Service Commission – to provide nearly 750 MW of solar generation in Florida from 2022 to 2024.
As we head into 2025, we ask: what were the key trends and challenges affecting energy programs to emerge in 2024 and how will they evolve over the coming year? From rising energy demand and commercial energy costs to the crucial need to reach under-resourced communities, we must approach these issues with a renewed focus on the existing solutions that work, coupled with new energy innovations and effective collaborations.
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Industry News
Heat pumps just keep getting hotter. The über-efficient, emissions-free appliance looks almost certain to have outsold gas furnaces in 2024 – and by a bigger margin than ever. According to shipment data from an industry trade group, Americans bought 37 percent more air-source heat pumps than the next-most-popular heating appliance, gas furnaces, during the first 11 months of the year.
The EV charging management software WeaveGrid this week announced a strategic investment from Hyundai Motor and Kia, for an undisclosed amount. This is the company’s second investment from an automaker in as many months. In December, the company closed a $28 million raise led by Woven Capital, Toyota’s growth fund.
U.S. renewable capacity additions – especially solar – will continue to drive the growth of U.S. power generation over the next two years, according to the Energy Information Administration’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). EIA officials anticipate that utilities and independent power producers will add 26 GW of solar capacity to the power sector in 2025 and 22 GW in 2026.
It’s a turbulent time for the American EV market. On the one hand, the sector is coming off of record-high sales, and a bunch of newer, better models are becoming available. On the other hand, manufacturers are walking back their EV plans, anti-EV sentiments are spreading around, and President Donald Trump is taking a sledgehammer to the Biden administration’s pro-EV policies.
