| Last year was the year of the Inflation Reduction Act. It was also the year of decline in new renewable energy installations in the U.S. Supply chain constraints, interconnection issues and policy uncertainty resulted in significant delays in clean power projects coming online, according to a report from the American Clean Power Association. Last year saw 15 percent fewer installations compared with 2021, making it the first time in five years that industry experienced a decline. Solar accounted for 68 percent of the delayed capacity, due primarily to trade restrictions making it difficult to source panels. Those delays underscore the need to speed up the permitting process for clean energy projects, the trade group argued. The setbacks have continued into this year. The first quarter of 2023 saw a 36 percent drop in installations compared with last year, marking the slowest start to a year since 2020. Maintaining last year’s project installation volume through 2035 would provide only 30 percent of what's needed to reach a net-zero grid by then, the report said. “The clean energy transition will not succeed unless Congress and governors enable the siting and construction of new energy facilities and support the build-out of transmission that is required to bring clean power to the people,” Jason Grumet, ACP's CEO, said in a statement. In total, industry added 531 clean power projects last year across 47 states for nearly 26 gigawatts of electricity last year — with more than 53 GW of clean power capacity experiencing delays and unable to come online. Texas saw the most new renewable energy added by far, with California coming in second – where a sizable portion of the new projects in that state were in energy storage. That technology experienced a record year in 2022 with an 80 percent increase in total operating storage capacity. All 50 states have operational clean power capacity, and new projects were added in all but three — West Virginia, North Dakota and Wyoming.
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