DENVER — Beta Engineering joined more than 500 renewable energy leaders as they gathered at the 18th annual Solar Energy & Storage Summit this April to discuss the current state of the renewable energy market.

During the two-day conference, speakers, panelists, and attendees discussed key clean energy trends they are seeing in the U.S. in 2025 and the outlook for the next five years.

• ‍State of the Market—One of the biggest takeaways from this year’s Solar Energy & Storage Summit is the delicate state of the renewable energy market right now. Speakers warned that the outlook for clean power projects may worsen before it improves, noting that many renewable firms that were around in 2021 have gone out of business—and many more will likely follow in the next two to five years if current trends continue.‍
• Pain Points—Main topics throughout the summit included tariffs, interconnect challenges and bottlenecks, and the impact of evolving guidelines under the current U.S. administration. Many speakers noted there are more unknowns today than there were six months to a year ago, primarily due to tariffs, the supply chain, and new regulations around permitting and federal funding programs.

• Data Centers—Another key topic during the conference was the growing demands of data centers, which far exceed what most renewable projects can supply. For example, hyperscale data centers can consume as much as 20–100 megawatts (MW) of power, while the most common utility-scale solar project size is 1–5 MW. As a result, data center developers are looking for alternate sources of power to support their facilities, including nuclear, natural gas-fired plants, and coal. Yet, as presenters pointed out, these types of power generation projects will face similar challenges to clean energy due to tariffs, supply chain bottlenecks, and the speed with which manufacturers can pivot to meet a surge in demand for key components, such as gas turbines.

The 2025 Solar Energy & Storage conference offered valuable insight into the challenges the renewable market is facing, how current U.S. policies are affecting the price of equipment and materials, and the impact of this uncertainty on ongoing energy development.

As the clean energy industry continues to adapt to U.S. power demand and market changes, Beta Engineering’s team is positioned to help renewable developers and electric utilities overcome interconnect bottlenecks and supply chain challenges. Thanks to our 50 years of high-voltage engineering, procurement, and construction experience across the country and our partnerships with equipment suppliers and subcontractors, Beta’s team can help developers avoid delays and get their projects online successfully.

About Solar & Energy Storage Summit

Solar & Energy Storage Summit is an annual clean energy conference hosted by global energy data and analytics solutions provider Wood Mackenzie.

Join Beta Engineering at other industry conferences later this year, including Cleanpower in Phoenix, AZ, May 19–22, and Southeastern Electric Exchange in Orlando, FL, June 24–27. Explore other top electric utility conferences in 2025.

About Beta

Beta Engineering is a substation EPC company with headquarters in Pineville, LA, and an office in San Diego. Since 1975, Beta has been building high-voltage substation and transmission line projects for power delivery companies across the U.S. Contact our team of experts to leverage our 50 years of problem-solving experience and achieve your long-term goals.