CEBA reports record corporate procurement of 20.4 GW of clean power, highlighting shift towards dispatchable solutions

The Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA) said corporate buyers contracted about 20.4 gigawatts (GW) of “clean” power from January through September 2025, including roughly 3.4 GW from what it describes as “clean firm” technologies , a category that covers hydroelectric, geothermal, nuclear, long‑duration energy storage and thermal with carbon capture and storage. According to the original report, CEBA characterised the 3.4 GW as a significant increase in corporate procurement of resources that can deliver consistent, on‑demand power.

CEBA CEO Rich Powell told Utility Dive in an interview: “We’re on track to have the largest year ever buying carbon emissions‑free electricity.” He said members remain committed to the clean energy transition “despite regulatory rollbacks and market changes that have led some to alter their sustainability goals. ‘The data speaks for itself,’” Powell added.

The CEBA figures sit alongside industry milestones and policy dynamics reshaping corporate procurement. Industry data shows corporate and industrial customers have exceeded 100 GW of voluntary clean energy procurement in the United States since 2014, accounting for a large share of incremental clean capacity added to the grid over the past decade. Solar photovoltaic remains the dominant technology in many portfolios, but the rise in contracts for clean firm resources indicates a deliberate broadening of strategies among large buyers seeking dispatchable, low‑carbon supply.

Corporates’ appetite for firm, dispatchable clean power has been sharpened by several intersecting pressures. Powell highlighted concern about climbing electricity prices amid expanding demand from artificial intelligence data centres and other large loads, and stressed CEBA’s ordering of priorities: “Our mission is low‑cost, reliable, emissions‑free electricity systems , in that order.” He told Utility Dive that many members are prepared to accept new large‑load tariff structures and to participate in solutions that protect existing ratepayers from interconnection and network upgrade costs.

Regulatory responses have varied. Dozens of states have proposed or adopted rules intended to shield existing ratepayers from interconnection costs by imposing new obligations on large customers , for example, requiring them to provide firm capacity, accept curtailment conditions during stress events, or underwrite a share of their projected power needs. Powell said the resulting commercial and operational constraints are driving innovation in procurement and contracting, and stressed the promise of large‑load flexibility as a near‑term tool: “(Flexibility) is very real, and it’s particularly promising because it could happen fast,” he said. “It should be performance‑based and sort of technology‑ or approach‑neutral.”

CEBA and corporate buyers are also responding to shifting federal incentives and market timing. Developers and public buyers have raced to bring projects to financial close ahead of impending changes to U.S. clean energy tax credit regimes, a dynamic highlighted in recent state tenders prioritising shovel‑ready projects to secure federal support. That incentive environment is amplifying competition for interconnection and construction resources, and helping explain both the surge in contracting activity and the emphasis on firm, shovel‑ready resources.

Public‑sector procurements have shifted the market as well. Government agencies have moved to secure long‑term volumes of carbon pollution‑free electricity to boost resilience and price stability; for example, one federal procurement announced in early 2025 bought more than 10 million megawatt‑hours over ten years, a step that market participants say helps underpin developer confidence for long‑duration and firm capacity investments.

Analysts caution, however, that procurement alone will not solve broader system needs. Powell warned that inflation, slow permitting, grid hardening, and lengthy interconnection queues are tangible headwinds for cost and delivery timelines: “There is no ‘silver bullet’,” he said. CEBA and its members continue to argue that a combination of new generation, transmission upgrades, storage deployment and operational flexibility will be required to integrate large new loads while containing costs for other customers.

CEBA’s data point , 20.4 GW of corporate clean contracts year‑to‑date, with 3.4 GW of clean firm , signals both the growing sophistication of corporate procurement and the practical challenges ahead for industrial decarbonisation. The organisation says members are diversifying what they contract for, embracing both intermittent renewables and an expanding set of firm, low‑carbon solutions intended to match the reliability needs of large commercial and industrial operations as the sector decarbonises.