Stegra has agreed in principle on €1.4 billion in new financing to complete the construction of what would be the world's first large-scale green steel plant, located in Boden in northern Sweden.
The most consequential shift for anyone considering rooftop solar in 2026 is the expiration of Section 25D, the Residential Clean Energy Credit. That 30% credit, which was worth up to $9,000 on a $30,000 system, is no longer available for home solar installations. The One Big Beautiful Bill, signed July 4, 2025, accelerated the phase-out that the Inflation Reduction Act had originally extended through 2034.
The group points out, correctly, that the grid is designed for brief bursts of high demand; most of the time there's lots of capacity that goes unused. Utilize thinks that should change. The group argues that smarter ways to use that capacity already exist. Utilize name checks a number of those solutions, including battery storage, demand response, and virtual power plants, all of which have emerged en masse over the last decade, but remain under utilized.
Solar and wind power provided more electricity than coal and gas last year, leading a global trend, said think tank Ember. Solar and wind power outperformed fossil fuels in the European Union for the first time last year, a new high watermark on Europe's transition to green and autonomous energy. The two sources of energy generated 30 percent of EU electricity, compared with 29 percent for coal and gas, Ember, a global energy think tank, said on Thursday in its European Electricity Review.