Trump’s energy department just released a controversial report: What’s fact vs. fabrication?

At President Trump’s direction, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is reversing course on clean energy solutions for the grid. 

In July, the DOE released its Resource Adequacy Report per President Trump’s Executive Order 14262, Strengthening the U.S. Grid Reliability and Security. The administration claims that the purpose of the report was to establish a “uniform methodology” for analyzing grid reliability and identifying at-risk regions, but the implications for solar and wind generation suggest a political motive: Cast doubt on renewables to justify further investment in fossil fuels. 

The latest report has recycled familiar, but flawed, talking points against renewable energy, warranting a closer look at the facts behind the rhetoric. Amidst the politicization of energy policies, independent research emphatically underscores the advantages of solar projects—which deploy significantly faster than traditional power plants—and battery energy storage systems (BESS)—which effectively mitigate intermittency issues while fortifying our aging grid.

But contrary to the consensus of numerous government and independent assessments—including past reports from the DOE itself—that affirm the grid reliability benefits of clean energy, the dubious DOE report marks a clear departure from federal support for renewable energy. Instead, the president favors the expansion of finite fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas—an unsurprising development given the Trump administration’s agenda to “drill, baby, drill.” 

Notably, the publication of the report coincides with the enactment of the Big Beautiful Bill, which eliminates or expedites the phase-out of bipartisan clean energy tax incentives. These actions show that the Trump administration is more focused on undoing the previous administration’s legacy than priortizing the country’s long-term energy security and affordability. In doing so, they’ve created a dangerous situation for Americans by undermining some of the only electricity sources ready to meet rising demand today. 

As AI data centers, extreme weather, and electrification strain an already aging grid, the U.S. needs more power—and it needs it fast. Clean energy is ready to meet that challenge. Instead of unleashing its potential, the Trump administration is stalling progress and putting politics over reliability.

“It devastates the United States' competitiveness. We had the beginnings of a clean energy manufacturing boom in this country over the last two and a half years, thanks to the incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act,” Kristina Costa, former White House advisor, said to EnergySage. 

“The actions of this administration cut off many of these programs in their infancy and make it vastly more burdensome to permit and build renewable energy projects in much of the country,” she said. “It takes the legs out from under that manufacturing renaissance.”

Despite the undeniable success of federal clean energy programs—the Inflation Reduction Act spurred $422 billion in private-sector clean energy investments and helped create more than 400,000 new jobs in less than three years—renewable resources like solar and wind remain under deliberate attack in Washington.

A main critique of solar energy as a leading source of grid electricity is that it’s intermittent: It produces plenty of energy when the sun is shining, but not enough at night or when it’s cloudy. While this is a valid concern for standalone solar projects, solar panels paired with battery energy storage can dispatch power at any time, making these systems firm baseload generation sources in many cases.

 A new report from Ember, an independent energy think tank, found that 24-hour solar generation is possible with just 17 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of battery storage in most regions around the world. Sunny places like Las Vegas can achieve 97% reliability with this solar and storage solution alone.

“Around-the-clock solar is no longer just a technical possibility and distant dream, but an economic reality,” said Kostantsa Rangelova, global electricity analyst at Ember. “Solar with battery storage can easily become a reliable base load.”

Research suggests that clean energy alone could meet industry reliability standards in areas facing the most immediate threats to grid stability. A report by GridLab and Telos Energy found that the country’s most at-risk region—the southern part of PJM territory, where data center demand is disproportionately high—could handle rising electricity demand, planned fossil fuel power plant retirements, and maintain stable grid operations by tapping into less than a third of the renewable energy projects already awaiting connection. 

Batteries react to grid frequency disturbances more quickly than traditional sources, making them a more effective tool for maintaining grid stability and preventing outages, according to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). This speed advantage is especially critical as the aging grid struggles to keep up with rising electricity demand, increasing the risk of blackouts.

“Every major blackout incident in the United States in recent years was caused by thermal generators like coal or gas, not by failures of renewables,” Costa said to EnergySage. “Grid operators are increasingly acknowledging the very important role that solar and storage play in keeping the lights on and the air conditioning operating.”

Batteries make California’s grid stronger

California, for example, attributes its enhanced grid reliability to the rapid growth of battery storage and other clean energy technologies. In 2024, the largest utility service area ran on 100% clean energy three out of every five days and, despite periods of extreme heat, never had to issue a single Flex Alert—calls urging customers to reduce their electricity usage during peak demand periods to avoid grid outages.

“California’s grid is stronger, smarter, and cleaner than it has ever been,” said California Energy Commission Vice Chair Siva Gunda. “We’ve invested in the tools and resources needed to manage extreme weather and maintain reliability as we continue our transition to 100% clean energy.”

Solar power isn’t just clean—it’s cheap. Even without government subsidies, utility-scale solar and wind are the most affordable source of new electricity in the U.S., according to a Lazard report. Building a solar power plant costs between $38 and $78 per megawatt-hour (MWH), while the price of new gas-fired power sits significantly higher, between $48 and $107 per MWH—a cost that continues to rise for natural gas. 

“The main reason why the cost of solar and the cost of batteries have fallen so much in recent years is because of the high speed of deployment, which allows for incremental innovation to take place and economies of scale to provide additional help,” Rangelova said to EnergySage.

Lazard’s latest Levelized Cost of Energy+ analysis found that gas plant construction is at its most expensive point in a decade, driven by record-high electricity demand and a growing shortage of equipment like turbines.

Meanwhile, solar and wind are not only the cheapest forms of power to build, but also the fastest to deploy. That speed is crucial as the U.S. grid races to keep up with AI-fueled data center demand, electrification, and heat waves.

“Renewables and battery storage are by far the fastest sources of new electrons—you're talking about a period of usually less than 18 months, sometimes less than a year, for solar and storage projects to get built and interconnected,” Costa said. “Other sources of new electricity take longer: We won't see more new gas capacity in the next five to seven years than we would have seen otherwise, and it takes 10 to 15 years to build a new nuclear plant in the best-case scenario.”

The more solar is added to the grid, the more stable and cost-effective the grid becomes: It reduces the need for expensive infrastructure upgrades, helps meet peak demand, and buffers against fossil fuel price volatility. Slowing solar adoption now risks long-term affordability.

The U.S. can’t afford to stall on clean energy.

“We’re in unprecedented times for our industry; we haven’t seen this type of load growth since the advent of air conditioning,” Calvin Butler, chair of the Edison Electric Institute and CEO of Exelon, told Fortune in an interview. “We don’t believe we can get to energy dominance without having renewables as part of the solution.”

The Trump administration’s recent roll back on clean energy incentives could have global consequences. While China still leans heavily on coal, it’s also moving aggressively on clean energy. Renewables now supply roughly one-third of China’s electricity—compared to just 22% in the U.S. As both countries race to meet the demands of AI and data center infrastructure, the U.S. risks ceding leadership to China if it slows down its own grid buildout.

“The actions to undercut and terminate investments in research and development of new technologies are incredibly devastating to the ability of the United States to invent, demonstrate, scale, and deploy clean energy technologies,” Costa said. “The rest of the world is not changing their investment plans to move toward cleaner sources of electricity—they are continuing apace. The difference is that we are going to be artificially left behind.”

Rangelova agrees: “We’re seeing solar and battery deployment across the world accelerate. No one region can really slow that momentum. If the U.S. slows down while the rest of the world continues deploying at speed, it’s a national risk for the U.S. to lose out on being part of that global story.” 

Very sunny places like Arizona and California have the potential to become solar superpowers in the future, and losing that opportunity is the biggest risk to the U.S, she said.

While President Trump continues to promote “energy independence,” his policies undermine it. The Big Beautiful Bill stripped support from solar, wind, and battery storage—technologies that are cheaper and faster to build than fossil fuel or nuclear plants, making them critical to keeping pace with surging electricity demand.

“It's clear to grid operators, technical experts, utilities, and many customers around the country that the rhetoric coming out of the Department of Energy and the Trump administration surrounding the role that solar and storage can play on the grid just does not have any resemblance to reality on the ground,” Costa said. 

The real risk to grid security isn’t too much solar or wind—it’s the deliberate slowdown of the clean energy transition at a time when electricity demand is surging and traditional energy sources are failing. By stalling progress, the U.S. risks ceding its position as a global solar superpower to China—threatening not only its energy leadership, but also its economic competitiveness and national security in the decades ahead.