# Palmetto

## Impact Report 2025

**Addressing the Energy Affordability**  
**and Reliability Crisis**

---

## Contents

**01 Introduction**  
**04 Solar installations in 2025**  
**05 A year of big saving**  
**06 Electricity rates on the rise**  
**07 Over performance in key states**  
**08 Hyperscalers and residential solar**  
**09 Supporting the solar workforce**  
**10 Solar where it counts most**  
**11 What’s next in 2026**

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## Introduction

**2025 is the year consumer energy**  
**broke into the mainstream.**

**As energy bills spiked across**  
**the country, terms like capacity**  
**auction, demand growth projection,**  
**and hyperscaler entered public**  
**awareness. More importantly,**  
**as energy bills rose, they started**  
**squeezing already thin wallets.**  
**Energy bills became a key**  
**component of the affordability crisis**  
**that grew more urgent for more**  
**Americans this year.**

**million Americans**  
**are struggling to**  
**pay their utility bills**

**– powerlines.org**

---

**Nearly half of Americans call**  
**their electric bill a major stressor,**  
**according to recent research.**  
**Four in five people said their electric**  
**bill was higher than it was a year ago.**  
**Nearly**  
**80 million Americans are**  
**struggling to pay their utility bills.**

## Nearly 80 million Americans are

**Energy dominated parts of the**  
**political landscape, too. Concerns**  
**over energy bills played a key role in**  
**elections this November and could**  
**as well in the 2026 midterms. Fights**  
**over energy tax credits were a focus**  
**during the One Big Beautiful Bill Act**  
**negotiations. At the same time,**  
**cheap and clean renewables and**  
**energy storage continued to make**  
**up the bulk of new generation added**

**to the grid, despite new roadblocks**  
**this year.**

**Within the residential solar industry,**  
**the biggest story is the end of the**  
**25D tax credit at the end of 2025**  
**and the wholesale shift to third-**  
**party ownership. How the industry**  
**adapts remains to the earlier-than-**  
**scheduled phase out remains to be**  
**seen. Smaller companies that relied**  
**on 25D are sure to be hit the hardest.**  
**Companies with a strong track record**  
**in third-party ownership can be a**  
**lifeline to engineering, procurement,**  
**and construction (EPC) companies**  
**who need to pivot to third-party**  
**ownership, and fast.**

**“ This year we’ve seen major changes in how solar**  
**is financed, and being able to offer LightReach to**  
**customers has been a real game-changer ”**  
**– Caleb Antonucci, CEO Our World Energy**  
!

---

**Palmetto stands uniquely at the nexus of 2025’s biggest trends in energy.**

We've lowered the barrier to entry for solar, storage, and efficient HVAC systems, saving Americans millions of dollars.

We're a crucial partner to EPCs across the country.

We're building resilience at home and adding affordable energy to the grid as rising demand threatens to make it less reliable and more expensive.

**2025 was a huge year that proves Palmetto’s mission is more urgent now than**  
**ever and that we’re primed to make 2026 even bigger.**

---

# Solar deployment in 2025

**We expanded Palmetto’s footprint in**  
**2025 and project to complete 71,927**  
**systems this year, helping nearly**  
**72,000 families across 30 states and**  
**Puerto Rico control their long-term**  
**electricity costs.**

**Installation momentum is picking up**  
**as 2025 draws to an end, reflecting**  
**a push by homeowners to take**

**advantage of the 25D tax credits**  
**before they expire.**

**All those solar installations generate**  
**a lot of electricity. Earlier this year,**  
**Palmetto-managed solar installations**  
**surpassed**  
**one terawatt-hour**  
**of electricity produced.**

## surpassed one terawatt-hour of
## We expanded Palmetto’s footprint in electricity produced.

**Over 2025 alone, they’re projected to**  
**produce 704 gigawatt-hours, enough**  
**electricity to drive 800,000 electric**  
**vehicles around the globe. Avoiding**  
**that much grid electricity has the**  
**same climate impact of removing**  
**110,326 gas-powered vehicles**  
**from the road for a year.**

110,326 gas-powered vehicles from

!  
**Palmetto’s 2025 solar installations as of November.**

---

## Big savings in 2025

**Distributed solar and storage are**  
**key to the clean energy transition**  
**and the health of the grid, but most**  
**importantly, they help households**  
**save money. All told, Palmetto’s**  
**customers saved tens of millions of**  
**dollars, even as rising electricity rates**  
**became a national story.**

**Compared to the electricity rate from**  
**their incumbent utility, Californians**  
**working with Palmetto collectively**  
**saved $27.8 million in 2025. That’s a**  
**lot of tangible savings flowing directly**  
**to consumers.**

**Palmetto**  
**customers in**  
**California saved**  
**$27.8**  
**million**  
**in 2025**

---

**When**  
**electricity**  
**rates jumped,**  
**Palmetto**  
**customers**  
**saved more**

## customers in additional pressure on people already

**When electricity rates jump, it puts**  
**additional pressure on people already**  
**feeling the squeeze of the current**  
**affordability crisis. It also proves**  
**the value of locking in predictably**  
**priced electricity from a**  
**Palmetto**  
**LightReach lease. When electricity**  
**rates in Connecticut increased**

## priced electricity from a Palmetto
## LightReach lease . When electricity

**beyond market expectations,**  
**Palmetto LightReach customers**  
**there realized an additional**  
**$463,000 in estimated savings. It’s**  
**proof that locking in a predictable**  
**and affordable rate**  
**now can pay dividends years down**  
**the road.**

## rates jumped, proof that locking in a predictable

!**customers in**  
**Connecticut saved**  
**an additional**

---

## Heavy hitting in solar-heavy states

**Palmetto had an outsized role in helping homeowners go solar this year.**  
**As homeowners rushed to take advantage of the expiring 25D tax credits or**  
**control their energy costs with third-party ownership solar, Palmetto was there**  
**to make solar simple and easy.**

*USA map outline created by Alexander Skowalsky from the Noun Project*

**In Arizona, Palmetto accounted for 83 megawatts of solar panels,**  
**approximately 51% of residential deployments there.**

---

# Residential solar and the hyperscaler

## came with it. One recent projection
9% from Grid Strategies sees electricity

**Perhaps no energy story was bigger**  
**in 2025 than the explosion in data**  
**center growth and the mind-boggling**  
**demand growth projections that**  
**came with it. One**  
**recent projection**  
**from Grid Strategies**  
**sees electricity**  
**usage growing 32% by 2030, a huge**  
**number after decades of relatively**  
**flat demand. Data centers accounted**  
**for 55% of that projected growth.**

**Perhaps surprisingly, residential solar**  
**can help meet that growing demand.**  
**In states such as Florida, Palmetto**  
**solar installations offset significant**  
**portions of local data center energy**  
**demand.**

**Data center energy demand offset**  
**by Palmetto solar panels in Florida, 2025.**

---

# Supporting small businesses and solar workers

9 **Impact Report 2025**
!

**This year also saw a potentially huge**  
**disruption to the industry with the early**  
**expiration of the 25D tax credit. Other**  
**major disruptions, such as California’s**  
**shift to NEM 3.0 in 2023, were followed**  
**by business closures and job losses:**  
**up to 17,000 jobs lost in California**  
**according to a**  
**survey**  
**conducted that**  
**year by the trade group, the California**  
**Solar and Storage Association.**

## according to a survey conducted that

## tax credit is still unknown, Palmetto’s goes
## impact in supporting small and here ”

**While the impact of the loss of the 25D**  
**tax credit is still unknown, Palmetto’s**  
**impact in supporting small and**  
**medium businesses throughout the**  
**industry is clear.**

**Palmetto’s streamlined technology**  
**platform, competitive pricing, and**  
**accessible financing are helping more**  
**than 500 EPC partners strengthen**  
**and scale their businesses in the post-**  
**25D world. Those partners represent**  
**an estimated workforce of more than**  
**11,350 across the 30 states where**  
**Palmetto LightReach-financed**  
**systems were installed in 2025.**

---

# Savings to low-income communities

**In 2024,**  
**one in three American households**  
**cut back on or went without**  
**household necessities to pay their energy bill.**  
**One in four low income**  
**households**  
**spent an average of 15% of their income on their energy bills.**

**In 2025, Palmetto deployed systems for 17,750 homes in low-income**  
**communities for zero money down. That’s 17,750 high-efficiency solar**  
**installations delivering clean and affordable energy where it’s most needed,**  
**and providing lifetime savings of up to $27,600 per household.**

---

# What’s next in 2026

**If 2025 was the year consumer**  
**energy broke into the mainstream, it’s**  
**safe to say it’ll stay there in 2026.**

## HVAC through Palmetto’s Comfort
## Plan . Affordable access to bill-

**Data centers, as they fuel the**  
**expansion of AI and our online lives,**  
**are expected to drive the explosion**  
**in electricity use growth, accounting**  
**for 55% of an expected one-third**  
**increase in demand by 2030,**  
**according to Grid Strategies.**

**Rising demand is likely to keep**  
**residential electricity prices**  
**marching upward. The US Energy**  
**Information Administration predicts a**  
**4% increase in 2026**  
**after a projected**  
**increase of 4.7% in 2025. With higher**  
**prices not just at the electric meter,** 
!

**affordability will remain top of mind**  
**for many Americans.**

**Alongside accessible and cost-**  
**controlling solar through Palmetto**  
**LightReach, consumers will have**  
**access to zero-down, affordable**  
**HVAC through**  
**Palmetto’s Comfort**  
**Plan. Affordable access to bill-**  
**reducing solar and efficient and**  
**reliable HVAC will become even**  
**more valuable as tools to address the**  
**affordability crisis. Accessible battery**  
**storage will help ease grid stress**  
**and the burden on consumers of**  
**increasing power outages.**

**Palmetto’s offerings are poised for**  
**another year of leading the world**  
**into the clean energy future, where**  
**homeowners control their costs**  
**while building resiliency and gaining**  
**greater energy independence. It’ll be**  
**more important than ever.**

---

## Palmetto