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This analysis and news roundup come from the Canary Media Weekly newsletter. Sign up to get it every Friday.
California made itself a rooftop solar leader — and now it’s undoing that legacy.
Sure, sunny skies have played a big role in getting Californians to install panels at their homes. But for years, the state has also offered hefty incentives to help rooftop solar grow, including net-metering policies, which determine how much utilities pay solar panel owners for sending excess generation back to the grid. Under the first two iterations of California’s net-energy metering policies — NEM 1.0, established in the 1990s, and NEM 2.0 in 2016 — that power was heavily rewarded. Those big payments for solar power made it easier to recoup the cost of putting up panels — and easier for homeowners to justify their clean investments.
Then came NEM 3.0. In 2022, California utility regulators approved a plan to slash net-metering payments by as much as 75%. The policy, which went into effect the following year, has seen numerous legal battles ever since. And just this week, a court upheld regulators’ solar-tanking move.
The decision comes at a crucial moment for rooftop solar nationwide. After years of setting records, residential solar installations in the U.S. slumped after 2023, falling in both 2024 and 2025, according to a new Solar Energy Industries Association report. Last year’s dip was largely due to economic uncertainty, tariffs, and contractors’ inability to quickly ramp up installations before federal tax credits expired, SEIA said.
In the post-incentive new year, some states have increased their own rebates and tax credits to keep clean energy rolling. But with this week’s ruling, California will continue heading in the opposite direction. Recent numbers of total residential solar installations in California suggest what the state’s future under NEM 3.0 will look like: Annual installations of residential solar dipped significantly from 2023 to 2024 and remained low in 2025. SEIA expects NEM 3.0 to slow installs even further in 2026.
The latest NEM 3.0 ruling could be appealed again to the state Supreme Court, and environmental advocates say they’re considering doing so. But as climate journalist Sammy Roth argues, maybe net metering isn’t worth the fight, and advocates should root for new ways to keep solar power growing.
Permissionless, plug-and-play balcony solar, anyone?
Good news for wind power in the U.S. and beyond
Wind power in the U.S. may be riding a roller coaster, but in the rest of the world, the industry is still on an upward climb.
A record 169 gigawatts of wind power came online around the globe last year, according to a report out this week from BloombergNEF. More than 100 gigawatts’ worth of those turbines were installed in China, though the rest of the world saw increases as well.
There’s also some good wind news to share on the home front. All five under-construction offshore wind farms the Trump administration tried to shut down are set to hit major milestones this month, Canary Media’s Maria Gallucci reports. Off Massachusetts, Vineyard Wind is nearly complete; the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project and Rhode Island’s Revolution Wind will soon begin delivering power to the grid; Sunrise Wind is about halfway complete; and New York’s Empire Wind is getting a turbine-installation vessel this month to continue building.
New York’s nuclear future is at a crossroads
New York has its sights set on scaling up nuclear power — but faces dueling proposals on how to make it happen.
It’s been nearly five years since the Indian Point nuclear plant fully shut down, taking with it a major supply of emissions-free power for New York City. Now, looking to spur a “nuclear renaissance,” the Trump administration is pushing for Indian Point’s restart. Energy Secretary Chris Wright recently joined the area’s Republican Congress member at a press event to call for the downstate plant’s reopening — an unlikely prospect given the surrounding communities’ opposition.
After Wright’s visit, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office affirmed she “will not support” Indian Point’s reopening. The plant is mired in intense controversy — something Hochul is probably reluctant to wade into during in an election year. But her administration is pressing on with plans to build a nuclear plant somewhere upstate, and so far, at least eight communities have said they’re interested in hosting it.
Release the reserves: The Trump administration says it will release 172 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve — about 40% of its supply — in an attempt to curb rising prices. (Axios)
Nuclear pivot: Trump administration officials and industry sources say lagging talks with Westinghouse to construct its flagship AP1000 nuclear reactors are leading the DOE to explore rival developers. (Canary Media)
Plugging away: Virginia’s House passes a bill to legalize plug-in “balcony solar” panels, putting it on track to become the second state to allow for the easily installable clean-energy solution. (Canary Media)
Permission to pollute: Mississippi regulators have approved a plan by Elon Musk’s xAI to build 41 natural gas–burning turbines to power a large data center near Memphis, Tennessee, despite residents’ concerns about noise and air pollution. (Mississippi Today, CNBC)
Big battery buildout: Home-battery startup Base Power will use its recent $100 million fundraise to install 100 megawatts of residential energy storage outside Dallas — and the project will be completed quicker than building a typical gas-powered peaker plant with similar capacity. (Canary Media)
Solar influencers: A North Carolina food bank’s rooftop solar array inspired a nearby Goodwill headquarters to install its own panels, with plans to redirect its energy bill savings back to its mission. (Canary Media)
Drilling into the transition: Some former oil and gas workers are finding new work in the geothermal industry, which values their expertise in drilling and other essential skills. (Grist)
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