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The 73,000-acre Jack Ranch is now 4% solar, “the biggest demonstration of the synergies between grazing and solar that we’ve seen.” Pacific Gas & Electric Company and Apple are customers.

In its $473 million deal with TXU Energy, the city sees huge savings in buying regional solar and wind—and long-term “budget certainty” at a “very market-competitive cost.”

Two new utility-scale farms suggest more to come, creating a boon to public-school tax bases. “The real impetus for turning cropland into solar arrays is simple economics,” writes the author.

The state has drafted a plan to repurpose old plant sites, including as medical-marijuana farms, warehouses and data centers. Access to power lines, water and railroad tracks make such sites valuable.

A review of plants in Colorado and Wyoming finds that solar power supported by utility-scale storage is creating “a harsh new reality” for the entire U.S. coal-fired electricity sector.

The Allen S. King plant in Minneapolis will close in 2028 and Sherco 3 plant near St. Cloud will shutter in 2030 as Xcel aims to go 50 percent renewables-reliant in 10 years.

The operator of the last two coal-fired power plants in the state is proposing that they be turned into data centers that will employ 30-40 people in jobs paying $40,000-$60,000.

The state still relies on coal and gas for 76 percent of its power, but that’s down from 92 percent. Renewables account for 23 percent of generation now, a three-fold increase over five years. 

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission denied a Vectron application to build a $781 million gas-fired project to replace an aging coal plant, directing the company to explore other options instead.

The project will serve as a transmission station for 1,200 megawatts of power produced by off-show wind turbines and will include a 400-megawatt storage component.