2025 Year in Review: Delivering Purpose-Driven Solar Amid Policy and Market Shifts

The U.S. renewable energy market saw significant headwinds in 2025. The passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) led to substantial rollbacks to renewable energy policy support at the federal level.

Yet despite the challenging landscape, Pivot Energy continued to grow, innovate, and deliver value for our partners and communities nationwide. In 2025, Pivot celebrated new client partnerships, impact in local communities, showcased leading agrivoltaic practices, and had the honor of adding prestigious awards to our roster.

We’re excited to share with you the highlights from Pivot’s year. You can also check out Pivot’s 2025 recap video.

Navigating Market Shifts with Steady Growth

While the OBBB introduced uncertainty, Pivot Energy remained optimistic. Utility-scale electricity demand is rising fast — driven in large part by AI and cloud computing — and solar remains the fastest, most affordable way to meet that demand. Pivot’s portfolio of distributed generation projects positions it well to serve this moment.

In 2025, Pivot hit a new milestone: 4.3 gigawatts (GW) of solar developed or under development, with roughly 1,000 projects completed and another 900 under development.

Pivot continued building relationships with Fortune 500 companies, higher education institutions, and local partners. Its work with Walmart moved several solar projects through key construction phases, while Rivian multiplied its 2024 community solar subscriptions sixfold as part of its decarbonization strategy. Pivot also energized three solar projects tied to its agreement with Tapestry, Inc. — parent company of Coach and Kate Spade — who are now purchasing impact renewable energy certificates (RECs) as part of their sustainability goals.

Meanwhile, Pivot’s partnerships with Colorado State University and CU Boulder demonstrate the growing interest among higher education institutions in site-specific solar deployments that align with long-term energy and climate goals.

Financial Innovation to Support Project Delivery

As tax credit rules shifted in the summer of 2025, Pivot’s finance team developed creative solutions to ensure project continuity and long-term financial viability. Pivot’s total financing in 2025 reached $435 million. In May, Pivot secured a $215 million tax credit purchase commitment to support a 40-project, 144 megawatt direct current (MWdc) community solar portfolio across eight states. This commitment is one of the largest of its kind in the U.S. and was facilitated through Acadia’s Climate and Communities Investment Coalition.

In December, Pivot concluded three important financing agreements totaling $225 million in partnership with ATLAS SP, First Citizens Bank, and Comerica Bank. These agreements will enable Pivot to upsize to an existing construction warehouse facility to support a new portfolio of approximately 60 community solar projects and purchase domestically manufactured solar panels from Silfab Solar Inc.

Additionally, a $10 million credit line with Comerica Bank and $90 million in safe-harbor equipment purchases further ensure project continuity into 2026. This proactive investment protects dozens of projects in Pivot’s pipeline and ensures it can continue building in 2026 without delay.

Policy Leadership in Key States

Much of Pivot’s work focuses on shaping the state-level regulatory landscape where distributed generation decisions are made. Pivot’s team remained active throughout 2025, helping to develop a new dispatchable solar + storage program in Colorado, supporting Maryland’s new distributed storage policy set to go live in 2026, and collaborating with a broad coalition in Illinois to pass a 3 GW energy storage target.

These policies unlock new market opportunities, but more importantly, they also align with our strategy to prioritize grid-serving renewable energy assets and position Pivot for growth in emerging solar + storage markets.

Embedding Agrivoltaics into Project Development

Pivot continues to lead the industry in dual-use solar practices. As of the end of this year, 95% of its qualified ground-mounted solar arrays — consisting of over 70 projects across seven states — integrate agrivoltaic elements such as livestock grazing, pollinator habitats, or crop production. Of those sites, 98% incorporate active grazing.

Beyond livestock integration, Pivot piloted innovative habitat enhancements. It hosted managed beehives to support pollination, partnered with Colorado State University on a long-term study of soil health benefits from agrivoltaics, and developed the largest distributed-scale agrivoltaic system in the country, with rows of crops growing between solar panels.

Investing in Communities and Workforce Development

Pivot’s commitment to community impact remained a core priority in 2025. This year, Pivot directed more than $700,000 in donations to 26 local organizations across Colorado, Illinois, and Maryland. These funds supported:

• Energy assistance programs for low-income families;

• Workforce development and solar job training;

• Land stewardship and agricultural initiatives in rural communities.

We also expanded our workforce pipeline initiatives, including a new internship program with Weld County-based Bright Futures and ongoing support for construction training efforts with Power52 in Maryland and HIRE360 in Illinois.

Strengthening ESG and Operational Foundations

In 2025, Pivot made important updates to its ESG roadmap and internal systems. We transitioned to activity-based greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting for Scope 3 emissions, which offers more accurate insights into supply chain impacts and prepares Pivot for evolving financial and regulatory landscapes.

Pivot’s Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) team standardized processes, implemented new reporting metrics, and enhanced training for both internal and external stakeholders. These steps reduce project risk, improve execution, and support long-term scalability.

Across its organization, Pivot employees logged over 1,000 volunteer hours with nonprofit partners including Energy Outreach Colorado and Project Worthmore, as well as through educational outreach efforts with schools and community groups.

Recognition and Industry Leadership

Pivot’s consistent performance was recognized by several national organizations in 2025:

• Pivot was named a Most Loved Workplace;

• It received the Green Power Leadership Award;

• It was recognized as Solar Power World’s Top 2025 Solar Contractor;

• It was honored as a High Impact Cleantech Company.

Looking Ahead to 2026

While 2025 brought policy uncertainty, Pivot Energy remained focused and steady. Its distributed generation model, commitment to strong partnerships, and emphasis on dual-use and community-positive development leave it well-positioned for the coming year.

In 2026, Pivot will continue delivering solar + storage solutions that not only serve the grid, but also improve land use, empower local communities, and create long-term value for its clients and partners. 

Solar remains the most scalable and affordable energy technology available. Pivot is proud to continue proving what’s possible — one project, one partnership, and one purpose-driven year at a time.

Connect with Pivot

Thank you for reading! Pivot would love to hear from you to discuss your company’s sustainability needs. If you’re a landowner interested in partnering with Pivot, please get in touch here.