I think his point was that it's now 15 years away, which is not the 20 years away it was 5 (and 20) years ago. In that sense it is significantly closer. Many of the real challenges may remain monetary as solar becomes cheaper, and funding of fusion has never been particularly high (perhaps $10-15B over 50 years). However, it is ultimately a complementary technology (as are Thorium reactors and others) for scales, places, and times when Solar or Wind aren't appropriate.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/20/fusion-energy-react...
The real surprise here might come from Lockheed-Martin's fusion project.[1] They're pursuing an unusual approach to magnetic containment. It's not a tokomak, and it's not a stellarator.
Many people have treated this as a hoax, or a joke. But the work is being done by Lockheed-Martin's Skunk Works, which has quite a track record. (The U-2, the SR-71, and stealth aircraft came out of there. ) Lockheed-Martin is doing this with their own money, and last year, when asked about it, the CEO said it was doing well enough they were putting more money in.
[1] http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/products/compact-fusion.htm...
Edit: ah, yes, and also the slightly more generic mandatory XKCD: https://xkcd.com/678/