Trade organization: U.S. renewables spending falling short of targets

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Renewable energy investment in the U.S. will have to grow significantly to put the country within reach of international climate targets and the Biden administration's goal of eliminating carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector by 2035, the American Council on Renewable Energy said June 7.

Investors put $58.5 billion toward renewable energy projects, grid-enabling technologies and transmission for integrating renewables in 2021, the nonprofit renewable energy group said in a report. That is well short of the $96 billion of average annual investment the group said will be needed to deliver on its campaign to reach $1 trillion of private investment by the end of the decade.

That is about how much funding will be needed to decarbonize the U.S. power sector and to "stay within striking distance of the U.S. commitment for greenhouse gas emission reductions outlined in the Paris Accord" on climate change, ACORE has said. So far, the U.S. renewable energy industry has raised only 23%, or $228.3 billion, of the American Council on Renewable Energy's, or ACORE's, targeted 2030 investment total, the group said.

"[We] have lost precious time that we do not have to achieve America's clean energy goals and combat the climate crisis," ACORE President and CEO Gregory Wetstone tweeted June 7.

A trade investigation by the U.S. Commerce Department added to headwinds buffeting the country's solar market, ACORE said.

[Michael Copley]

More: Investment in US renewable energy seen lagging industry target