Federal judge orders Pentagon to restart wind project reviews
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
- Court Orders Pentagon to Resume Wind Reviews: A federal judge ruled the Department of Defense must lift its blockade on national security reviews for onshore wind projects, freeing more than 155 stalled developments that renewable energy companies say could power millions of homes. Nebraska Examiner. Read More: Nebraska Examiner.
- California Tops 21 GW of Battery Storage: California now has more than 21 GW of grid-connected battery storage, up from under 700 MW when Gov. Newsom took office in 2019 — one of the largest battery fleets in the world. Solar Power World. Read More: California, Solar Power World.
- U.S. Battery Storage Grew 70% Annually for Three Years: Utility-scale battery capacity hit 43.6 GW by the end of 2025, with another 8.3 GW added in the first half of 2026, according to market data. CleanTechnica. Read More: CleanTechnica.
- DOE Closes $489M Loan for Puerto Rico Grid: The Department of Energy finalized a $489.4 million loan to Pattern Energy's subsidiary Amanecer Puerto Rico for battery storage and natural gas infrastructure to stabilize the island's fragile electric grid. Energy Storage News. Read More: Energy Storage News.
- Gas Grabs Nearly Half of PJM's Reformed Queue: Natural gas projects account for close to half of the 200-plus gigawatts in PJM's first reformed interconnection queue, though battery storage and solar also qualified for study — a signal of how data-center demand is reshaping the generation mix across the nation's largest grid operator. Inside Climate News. Read More: Inside Climate News.
Solar & Storage
[California](/states/california) has quietly assembled one of the most formidable battery fleets on Earth. The state now has more than 21 GW of energy storage connected to its grid, a milestone reported by Solar Power World that marks a roughly thirtyfold increase from the less than 700 MW installed when Gov. Gavin Newsom entered office in 2019. For developers and investors working in other states, California's trajectory is both a benchmark and a competitive pressure point: as its fleet matures, it is generating operational data and market structures that will likely shape procurement and interconnection policy nationwide. Read More: milestone reported by Solar Power World.
That growth fits a broader national pattern. U.S. utility-scale battery storage capacity averaged 70% annual growth over three years, reaching 43.6 GW by the close of 2025, according to CleanTechnica. In the first half of 2026 alone, another 8.3 GW came online. The pace matters because grid operators across the country are scrambling to meet surging electricity demand from data centers, and batteries — dispatchable, fast to deploy, and increasingly bankable — are filling a role that even two years ago was assumed to belong to gas peakers. Read More: according to CleanTechnica.
Data-center load is now actively pulling storage investment to specific corridors. PJM's largest battery energy storage project has broken ground adjacent to a data center corridor, a project whose development began in 2018, well before the current AI-driven surge in power demand. Its location signals that co-siting batteries near hyperscale computing loads is no longer an experiment but a commercial strategy. Meanwhile, the Department of Energy closed a $489.4 million loan to Pattern Energy's subsidiary Amanecer Puerto Rico, financing battery storage and natural gas infrastructure to shore up the island's chronically unreliable grid, as reported by Energy Storage News. For Puerto Rico, which has suffered years of blackouts, the loan represents one of the largest single federal financing commitments to grid modernization on the island. Read More: broken ground adjacent to a data center corridor, as reported by Energy Storage News.
On the solar side, KMB Design Group bolstered its engineering bench by acquiring Hurricane Hill Development Co., a New Hampshire-based electrical engineering firm. The combined company now claims more than 10 GW of solar engineering experience, positioning it to serve a project pipeline that keeps expanding despite tariff headwinds and interconnection delays, Solar Builder reports. In New Mexico, a 120 MW solar array called Buena is advancing in Otero County — a project that local commentary notes is proceeding despite political opposition in one of the state's more conservative regions. The project illustrates a recurring dynamic: utility-scale solar economics are strong enough to attract investment even where local politics are inhospitable. Read More: Solar Builder reports, local commentary notes.
Wind Energy
The biggest story in wind this week is a courtroom victory. A federal judge has ordered the Department of Defense to resume national security reviews for onshore wind projects over 200 feet tall — reviews the Trump administration had effectively frozen. The ruling, reported across multiple state outlets including Maryland Matters, Iowa Capital Dispatch, Michigan Advance, and Nebraska Examiner, came after renewable energy companies sued the Pentagon over its refusal to conduct the routine permitting assessments. More than 155 onshore projects had been stalled. Read More: reported across multiple state outlets, Iowa Capital Dispatch, Michigan Advance, Nebraska Examiner.
This ruling is the second major judicial check on the administration's wind policies in consecutive days, following Thursday's order covered in our previous briefing. For developers holding land leases, interconnection agreements, and equipment contracts on those 155-plus frozen projects, every month of delay has carried real carrying costs. Whether the Pentagon complies swiftly or seeks to appeal will determine how quickly shovels move. The administration's broader posture toward wind — including the RWE offshore lease buyback reported earlier this week — suggests the judicial wins may face bureaucratic resistance even if they stand legally.
Policy & Markets
PJM's first reformed interconnection queue offers a stark picture of what load growth is doing to the generation mix. Natural gas captured nearly half of the more than 200 GW of capacity that qualified for study, Inside Climate News reports. Battery storage and solar projects also made the cut, but the gas dominance reflects a hard market signal: data-center operators want firm, around-the-clock power, and developers are betting gas can clear the reformed queue faster than renewables-plus-storage combinations. For clean energy advocates, the numbers are a warning that queue reform alone won't shift the generation mix without parallel policy on clean energy procurement. Read More: Inside Climate News reports.
On Capitol Hill, Senator Mike Lee has introduced legislation that would roll back energy efficiency standards and block the Department of Energy from implementing stronger requirements, CleanTechnica reports. The bill's practical effect, if enacted, would increase electricity demand at exactly the moment grid operators are struggling to keep pace with load growth — a tension that makes efficiency standards a grid-reliability issue, not just an environmental one. Read More: CleanTechnica reports.
Taken together, these policy threads tell a consistent story: electricity demand is rising faster than at any point in a generation, and the political fight is now over what fills the gap. Gas, batteries, wind, and efficiency standards are all being contested simultaneously — in interconnection queues, in courtrooms, and on the Senate floor.
LOOKING AHEAD
- Pentagon Compliance Timeline: Watch whether the Defense Department moves to appeal or begins processing the 155-plus stalled wind project reviews. Speed of compliance will determine how many projects can still meet 2027 construction schedules.
- PJM Queue Study Results: With gas dominating the reformed queue's first cohort, study outcomes and withdrawal rates over the coming months will reveal whether those gas projects have real financing or are speculative placeholders blocking cleaner alternatives.
- Battery Storage Deployment Pace: With 8.3 GW added in H1 2026, the industry is on track to potentially surpass last year's installation total. Second-half interconnection data will signal whether supply-chain constraints or tariff impacts are slowing momentum.
TODAY'S QUICK ANSWERS
Q: What does the Pentagon wind ruling mean for project economics on those 155-plus stalled developments?
A: Developers have been burning cash on land leases, interconnection deposits, and equipment holds while reviews sat frozen. If the Pentagon resumes assessments promptly, many projects can still hit construction windows, but any that have lost offtake agreements or equipment reservations during the delay may need to restructure — and some may not pencil out at today's costs.
Q: Why should clean energy developers worry about gas dominating PJM's reformed queue?
A: PJM serves 65 million people across 13 states, and its queue sets the template other grid operators watch. If gas projects secure interconnection ahead of renewables-plus-storage in the reformed process, it could lock in fossil generation for decades. Developers banking on batteries and solar to serve data-center load in PJM territory may need to pair with gas or pursue behind-the-meter strategies to compete.
Q: What does California's 21 GW battery milestone signal for other states?
A: It proves that storage at scale works operationally and commercially — a data point that procurement teams in Texas, Arizona, and PJM states will use to justify larger battery commitments. California went from under 700 MW to 21 GW in roughly seven years. States with strong solar resources and rising peak demand have no technical excuse left for delay; the constraint is now policy and interconnection speed.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Courts are forcing the administration to let wind projects move while battery storage keeps scaling at 70% annual growth — but with gas grabbing nearly half of PJM's reformed queue, the race to define America's next generation fleet is far from settled.