Solar Makes Midwest-Area Grid Biggest in US, BNEF Says
(Bloomberg) -- Growing solar power in the midsection of the US has led that region to become the nation’s biggest in terms of electric supply, according to a report from BloombergNEF.
A region that includes the Midcontinent Independent System Operator — which BNEF defines as the operator’s territory in addition to Associated Electric Cooperative Inc., Electric Energy Inc., Louisville Gas and Electric Co. and Kentucky Utilities Co. — overtook a system that extends from the Mid-Atlantic to Illinois, the research firm found. Much of the MISO region is dominated by Republican leadership.
That region that includes MISO added 7.45 gigawatts of solar power between April 2024 and this past March, according to BNEF analyst David Mohammadi. Illinois, a Blue state, accounted for the largest share. GOP-led Indiana, Arkansas and Missouri were next, he said.
That compares with 3 gigawatts in a region that extends from the Mid-Atlantic to the Midwest, according to BNEF. It defines that region that’s home to grid PJM Interconnection LLC as also including Ohio Valley Electric Corp.
Officials at PJM and MISO didn’t provide a comment by late Wednesday.
The solar expansion has continued despite President Donald Trump’s opposition to solar and other renewable energy. His administration has ended federal tax credits for solar installations and imposed permitting delays.
In February, the US Energy Information Administration said it projected solar power to make up about half of planned US capacity additions.
Rising electricity prices and fears of a power crunch, driven largely by surging demand from AI data centers and extreme heat, have made expanding grid capacity a top priority for both utilities and politicians.
MISO and PJM have experienced high demand this summer. Power demand on PJM’s system likely broke a 20-year-old record in early July, the operator said.
Solar units built in the region that extends from the northern Midwest to Louisiana since early 2024 had nearly twice the average size of those added in the Mid-Atlantic, according to BNEF’s report.
In total, generation capacity in the region that includes MISO was 230 gigawatts at the end of the first quarter, compared with the 227 gigawatts in the region that includes PJM, BNEF said.
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