Photo: Total Energy
More than 72% of the electricity generation capacity added in the U.S. in 2025 will come from solar power, and the remaining 16% from wind power, according to late data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign.
When it comes to new capacity additions, solar power continues to lead among all energy sources for 28 consecutive months. Installed utility-scale solar capacity now exceeds individual wind, hydro, and nuclear capacity. Additionally, FERC projects that an additional 86 gigawatts (GW) of solar power will be added over the next three years, with solar capacity also exceeding coal capacity during that time.
83% of new power generation capacity in December was solar
In its latest monthly Energy Infrastructure Update report (which includes data through Dec. 31, 2025), FERC said 17 solar PV “units” totaling 993 megawatts (MW) came online in December, accounting for 83.2% of all new generation capacity added that month.
The 710 utility-scale (>1 MW) solar PV units added during 2025 totaled 26,556 MW, representing 72.6% of the total new capacity brought on-line by all sources.
Solar power is now the largest source of new generation capacity added every month for 28 consecutive months from September 2023 to December 2025. During this period, total utility-scale solar capacity increased from 91.82GW to 164.53GW. No other energy source can add so much new capacity. For example, wind power generation increased by 13.4 million kW, but the net increase in natural gas was only 6.83 million kW.
As a result, the installed capacity of utility-scale solar power generation is now 164.5GW, accounting for 12.2% of the total, exceeding wind power (161.1GW, 11.9%), nuclear power (104.39GW, 7.7%), and hydropower (10209GW, 7.5%).
Wind capacity additions will exceed natural gas in 2025
In 2025, new wind added 5,763 MW of capacity. This is an increase of 26% compared to 2024 and more than the new capacity from natural gas (4,179 MW). Wind power accounted for 15.7% of all new generation capacity added in 2025.
88% of new electricity generation added in 2025 was renewable
In 2025, wind and solar (plus 4 MW of hydropower and 6 MW of biomass) will account for 88.4% of all new generation capacity, while natural gas will account for just 11.4%. The remainder of the net capacity additions will come from oil (66 MW) and waste heat (17 MW).
Solar and wind account for a quarter of US power generation capacity
Wind and solar together account for 24.1% of total utility-scale generation capacity in the United States.
Additionally, more than a quarter of the U.S. solar capacity is in small-scale systems (such as rooftops), which are not reflected in FERC’s data. Including additional solar capacity, solar and wind power now account for more than 25% of the U.S. total.
Including hydropower (7.5%), biomass (1.1%), and geothermal (0.3%), renewable energy currently accounts for a 33.0% share of total U.S. utility-scale generation capacity. Including small-scale solar capacity, renewable energy now accounts for more than one-third of total electricity generation capacity in the United States.
Solar power remains on track to become number two
FERC reports that net additions of solar power over the next three years (January 2026 to December 2028) will total 86,126 MW with a “high probability.” This is more than four times the projected “high probability” net additions (19,821 MW) for wind, the second fastest growing resource. Additionally, the average annual growth rate from solar and wind over the next three years (35,316 MW per year) is roughly in line with the growth rate over the past two years (35,382 MW per year), suggesting that it will not slow down despite the Trump administration’s hostile policies.
FERC also projects net growth in hydroelectric power (554 MW) and geothermal power (102 MW), while biomass generation capacity will decline by 116 MW.
On the other hand, natural gas capacity is not expected to expand significantly at 8,154 MW, nuclear power will only add 335 MW, while coal is expected to contract significantly by 40,828 MW and oil is expected to decline by 1,590 MW.
Combined, the new “high probability” of new utility-scale capacity added from all renewable energy sources over the next three years (the remainder of the Trump administration’s term) totals 106,487 MW. Meanwhile, the combined installed capacity of fossil fuel and nuclear power generation will decrease by 33,929 MW.
If FERC’s three-year forecast comes true, by January 1, 2029, utility-scale solar power will account for 17.6% of installed electricity generation capacity in the United States, more than any other source except natural gas (40.6%). In addition, the combined capacity of all utility-scale renewable energy sources is almost 39%. Assuming that small-scale solar PV maintains a 25% share of total solar power generation, including small-scale solar PV would push the share of solar PV above 20% and the share of total renewables above 40%, while the share of natural gas would fall below 39%.
In fact, the numbers for renewable energy could be significantly higher.
FERC notes that “all additions” (net) for utility-scale solar over the next three years could reach 240,152 MW, while wind could total 64,669 MW. The net increase in hydropower could reach 9,513 MW, while geothermal and biomass could increase by 575 MW and 44 MW, respectively. Such growth from renewable sources will significantly exceed that of natural gas (36,628 MW).
“FERC data confirms very strong growth in solar and wind power generation during the first year of the Trump administration,” said Ken Bosson, executive director of the SUN DAY campaign. “Equally important, the trend line is on track to continue for the next three years, despite efforts by the White House to reverse course.”
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