2025 Trends in Energy & Sustainability: Budderfly’s Year in Review
Explore 2025’s key energy trends and how Budderfly customers achieved their sustainability and energy savings goals
2025 was a year that established significant and new challenges for sustainable energy and our environment. Record-breaking wildfires, major utility price hikes, the threat of regular blackouts from grid strain, and rising global emissions dominated headlines. But amid the challenges, there were bright spots of progress.
At Budderfly, we partnered with thousands of businesses to deliver measurable impact. The result? Our customers achieved a 39% increase in energy savings, proving that even in a turbulent year, innovation can drive meaningful change.
To close out the year, we’re highlighting some of the most critical data that show the state of energy consumption in 2025 and how Budderfly’s customers have made a positive impact on the environment and their bottom line.
How much did CO2 emissions grow in 2025?
In 2025, global fossil fuel CO2 emissions reached a record high, with U.S. emissions increasing by 1.9%, according to energy industry data.
But together with our customers, we helped curb that growth, avoiding more than 300,000 MT of carbon emissions.
That's equivalent to:
- 763,967,867 miles driven by an average gasoline-powered passenger vehicle
- 40,289 homes powered for one year
- 333,244,469 pounds of coal burned
What happened to utility prices for businesses in 2025?
Average utility prices have gone up by 13% nationally since January 2025—nearly three times the rate of inflation. This has put a strain on businesses and cut into profits.
Energy efficiency remains one of the simplest solutions when it comes to decarbonizing buildings and infrastructure, and in 2025 energy efficiency grew in popularity. At Budderfly, we've helped our customers save over $54 million in energy costs to date.
How did blackouts impact people and businesses in the U.S.?
Blackouts are becoming an increasingly common part of American life, which creates increased health and safety risks for families and community and leads to closures and lost business for companies.
New data centers are one of the main contributors to electricity demand and blackout risks. Outages have gotten 20% worse each year since 2019.
Budderfly is working to mitigate this problem with alongside our customers. In 2025, we activated the Budderfly virtual power plant, a network of commercial sites that can now support the grid during peak moments—reducing emissions, strengthening resilience, and saving energy. By empowering our customers to become active participants in the grid, we offer businesses the opportunity to help reduce as well as futureproof their business against increasing grid strain.
Did renewable energy grow in 2025?
Renewable energy overtook coal as the world's leading source of electricity in 2025. In the U.S. specifically, renewable energy grew and accounted for nearly 26% of all electricity generated, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Our customers continued to choose energy efficiency and clean energy solutions that will give them more predictable costs and more control over their energy future.
Is sustainability becoming more popular for businesses?
Yes, 56% of U.S. Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs) anticipate that sustainability will become a greater strategic priority within their organizations over the next five years. That’s because more people are realizing that choices such as using less energy are not only good for the planet, they’re also beneficial for business profits and operations.
We’ve seen firsthand how more businesses are prioritizing sustainability at Budderfly. Sustained demand for our solutions drove a 46% increase in Budderfly’s energy under management in 2025.
What's next? Looking ahead to 2026 . . .
No single organization can solve these energy challenges alone. Budderfly’s mission is to accelerate decarbonization by unlocking energy efficiency and sustainability solutions that lower your business' carbon footprint, but also address other important concerns like operating costs, reliable power and equipment, and hassle-free, simplified energy management. As we look back on 2025, we’re inspired by how much progress is possible when people and businesses work together.