Happy summer from the North America team! It's been hot across the continent, driving home the new normal we experience every summer. Increasingly, we're seeing strains on the grid and across energy deliveries due to a warming climate and global conflicts.
This is especially true in Cuba right now as the island nation faces an increasingly dire energy crisis. On July 6th, Cuba's national electric grid suffered a total collapse, plunging the country into darkness. In addition to aging infrastructure, Cuba is facing a power crisis since its main supplier of oil—Venezuela—has been cut off due to United States intervention. The human impact of sustained blackouts—especially in the hot summer months—is real and tragic.
We've seen the challenge of delivering reliablefossil fuels energy to islands before—our work in Puerto Rico has touched on this for years. An overreliance on fossil fuels and an aging grid have led Puerto Ricans to take their energy into their own hands by installing rooftop solar and battery storage at a breakneck pace. Expansion of solar is something that can be replicatedacross the Caribbean. As we've seen due to multiple crises across the globe disrupting supply, reliable energy is quickly becoming a security issue.
Homegrown renewable energy is a promising path forward as electric grids face challenges and global oil markets remain volatile. It's cheap, it's deployable, and it keeps the lights on. Increasingly, we're seeing fossil fuel's inability to do that. We'll keep you informed on how North America can transition to a sustainable and profitable energy economy.
Puerto Rico consistently has among the highest electric rates in the United States. Important energy cases and planning proposals before the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) will heavily influence the future cost of electricity. Our report from May takes an in-depth look at proposed new power generation and the risks of continuing to pursue large-scale generation projects outside of a rigorous energy planning process. This report warns of the potential overbuild of Puerto Rico’s centralized generation system and of its continued dependence on imported natural gas. Spanish version.
Two summers ago, IEEFA wrote the crossroads Puerto Rico faced as residents looked to expand solar, while the Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB) assessed rules to undermine the buildout. The report remains relevant today as countries look to expand renewables in the name of energy security. Spanish version.
As renewables expand in California, their success can be seen as a case study for other regions. The state's decades-long history of supporting renewable energy growth to wean its grid from fossil fuels is paying off. But the biggest changes have occurred in just the last five years. In 2021, there were no dispatchable battery storage resources, solar and wind contributed less to grid demand, and gas was still a significant generation resource throughout the day. All that has changed. The investments in solar, battery storage, and transmission for out-of-state wind are now cutting sharply into demand for gas, and the state’s long-term goal of exiting fossil fuels appears closer than ever.
Upcoming Webinar
International turmoil is creating new risks for Canadian LNG. As Middle East tensions continue to fluctuate, Canada's LNG industry faces a new and riskier market landscape. Years of volatile prices, unreliable supplies, and market crises have suppressed Asia's appetite for LNG. Many Asian economies handled the Strait of Hormuz crisis by cutting LNG imports and speeding up adoption of renewables. However, global LNG supply is poised to grow faster than ever--especially if Persian Gulf production ramps up output, as expected, once the Strait of Hormuz is stabilized. Canada's LNG industry is hoping to launch new export projects, but they may open at a time of weak demand, overabundant supply, low prices--and weak returns for investors. Join our IEEFA experts to unpack all of this in our next webinar. The webinar will be recorded and shared following the presentation.Register today.
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The success and soaring growth of two- to four-hour lithium-ion batteries over the past five years have created an opening for longer-duration storage solutions that can store up to four days of power. In just five years, installed short-duration battery storage capacity in the U.S. has increased from 1,694 megawatts (MW) in January 2021 to 43,419 MW in January 2026, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Current forecasts call for installed capacity to double again by the end of 2027, reaching almost 90,000 MW. For comparison, there were 79,944 MW of conventional hydroelectric power capacity and 98,438 MW of nuclear capacity in the U.S. in January 2026—figures that are virtually unchanged from a decade ago.
Quotable
“The high concentration of critical mineral supply chains in a few countries, primarily China, means that India needs to diversify its sources and augment its domestic manufacturing capabilities.”
““Europe may have no control over LNG supply disruptions, but it can boost energy efficiency and accelerate renewables and heat pump installations to reduce its import dependency.”
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