Sunshine did the saving: solar and storage cut $2.5 billion in California and $3.5 billion in Texas this summer

When heatwaves push electricity demand to its peak, the most expensive power plants switch on — and prices spike. An analysis of this summer's grids found that solar generation and battery storage displaced exactly that expensive peak power in two very different states: solar and storage saved California about $2.5 billion and Texas about $3.5 billion in wholesale generation costs. Rooftop solar grew sharply too, up 172% in Texas and 107% in California. The catch is honest: household bills also carry rising wires and wildfire costs, so the savings show up in the generation slice first — but $6 billion of avoided peak power is real money.

SDG 7 · Affordable and clean energy — Mechanism: market force