U.S. Companies Are Hungry For Clean Energy

A predictable outcome of the first year of the second Trump presidency has been the renewed rollback of renewable energy and emission regulations. Last week, the administration announced the repeal of the legal basis for greenhouse gas emission rules, while Trump's known personal disdain for wind power was reflected in the August cancellation of hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars in offshore wind park funding. Already in October, the IEA took the latter and other policy changes included for example in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act as reasons to significantly downgraded the growth of U.S. renewable energy capacities. However, renewable energy in the United States is predicted to continue its expansion, albeit at a slower pace, as costs have come down and the demand is there.

As seen in data published in the Sustainable Energy in America Factbook, some of the largest U.S. corporations have continued to contract large amount of renewable energy while the government is turning its back. 30 gigawatts of clean power, mainly from solar sources, came under contract last year, around as much as in 2024 and a step up from 2023's 17 gigawatts. Meta is leading the way here with more than 10 gigawatts contracted in 2025, followed by Amazon (6.8 gigawatts), Google (4.2 gigawatts) and Microsoft (1.2 gigawatts). Among the top corporate contractors are not only tech companies, but also those from sectors like food and telecommunications.

The handbook calculated that the United States added 54 gigawatts of utility-scale renewable energy sources last year. Looking at corporate pledges, this number falls short in the U.S. and globally as more and more corporations are pledging to use 100 percent of clean energy in coming years. Around the world, Bloomberg estimates that companies participating in these pledges under the RE100 umbrella would be looking to purchase 726 terawatt-hours of renewable energy by 2030, up from 565 in 2025 (without accounting for new joiners).