Energy infrastructure development drivers
Corporate, economic and policy factors influence the demand for new renewable energy generation and transmission infrastructure.
Federal policy tends to be the most visible driver behind the acceleration or slowing of renewable energy development, but it is far from the only one.
State legislation, utility regulation, municipal procurement and clean energy standards, corporate clean energy commitments and market forces all contribute to the continued expansion of utility-scale renewable energy projects. Recent shifts in federal policy have increased the importance of these non-federal decarbonization drivers.
Corporate trends
Many global and U.S.-based corporations have set decarbonization goals. Renewable energy is key to reaching their targets. Some companies choose to construct their own solar or wind projects near their facilities. Others procure clean energy from power producers and utility companies through long-term contracts referred to as physical or virtual Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Between March and July 2025, despite federal policy changes, corporations contracted more than 11.5 gigawatts of U.S. clean energy, and the volume of contracted U.S. clean energy rose nearly 10%.
Technology and web services providers (think Meta, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon) account for a large majority of U.S. clean energy procurement. This sector has simultaneously set a high bar for corporate decarbonization goals while driving unprecedented energy demand due to data centers. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that domestic data centers’ energy demand doubled between 2017 and 2023—and now expects it to double or even triple by 2028. New domestic manufacturing capacity and increased electrification of vehicles and other technologies will add to that skyrocketing demand.
New wind and solar projects can not only meet corporate clean energy goals, but they can also be deployed more quickly than centralized alternatives like gas, coal, or nuclear to support economic growth.
Economic trends
Globally, the cost to generate electricity via utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) plants has decreased dramatically since 2010. Multiple studies from corporate, academic and government sources demonstrate that solar and wind are currently the most cost-competitive sources of electricity in the United States. These studies account for the costs to build and operate the power plants over time and consider costs with and without tax subsidies.
Want details? Take a look at the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Levelized Costs of New Generation Resources in the Annual Energy Outlook 2025 and Lazard’s 2025 Levelized Cost of Energy+ or get a global perspective from the International Renewable Energy Agency’s Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2024.
Decreasing costs spur increasing demand for new renewable generation. In fact, solar, wind, and battery made up 80%–90% of proposed and constructed new energy generation and storage projects seeking connection to the nation’s grid between 2014 and 2024. Although many proposed projects are not completed, this statistic highlights how energy producers and developers have pursued new renewable generation in alignment with favorable economic trends.
Looking forward, U.S. investor-owned utility companies are forecast to invest more than $80 billion in capital expenditures for renewable energy generation between 2025 and 2027.