en.Wedoany.com Reported - According to an analysis by the SUN DAY Campaign of the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), renewable energy generation in the United States increased by more than 11% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026. Multiple forecasts from the EIA and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) also indicate that solar, wind, and battery storage will continue to dominate new generating capacity additions in the coming years, while fossil fuel and nuclear capacity are on a declining trend.

According to the EIA's latest Electric Power Monthly (with data through March 31, 2026), renewable energy generation in the first three months of 2026 was 11.1% higher than in the same period in 2025. The growth was primarily driven by utility-scale (i.e., greater than 1 megawatt) solar (up 23.9%), hydropower (up 21.9%), small-scale solar (up 11.9%), and wind power (up 2.1%). During the same period, utility-scale battery storage capacity grew by 8.5%. In contrast, generation from the nation's coal-fired power plants fell by 11.4%, while natural gas and nuclear power saw only modest increases of 1.1% and 0.9%, respectively. All renewables, including biomass and geothermal, accounted for more than 28.6% of total U.S. electricity generation in the first quarter. Wind and solar alone (including small-scale solar) provided 20.3% of domestic generation, exceeding nuclear power by 14.3% and coal by 31.1%.

As of April 1, 2026, renewables accounted for 33.6% of total U.S. utility-scale generating capacity. The EIA expects this share to increase to 36.6% by March 31, 2027. This includes an addition of 42,626.1 megawatts of utility-scale solar, 14,157.4 megawatts of wind (including 4,155.0 megawatts of offshore wind), and 297.1 megawatts from other renewables such as hydropower, biomass, and geothermal. The total capacity growth for all utility-scale renewables over the 12-month period is 57,080.6 megawatts, nearly double the 30,843.5 megawatts added in the previous 12 months, representing an 85.1% increase. Meanwhile, the EIA projects zero new nuclear capacity and a net reduction of 4,266.2 megawatts in fossil fuel capacity.

These figures do not include small-scale solar. Last year, small-scale solar system capacity grew by 6,358.2 megawatts, reaching a total of 60,978.4 megawatts. The EIA does not provide forecasts for small-scale solar; the SUN DAY Campaign assumes it will be roughly flat with last year (i.e., an additional approximately 6,000 megawatts). If small-scale solar adds another approximately 6,000 megawatts by April 1, 2027, total renewable installed capacity would reach approximately 533,319.7 megawatts, surpassing natural gas generation's 514,868.4 megawatts. At that point, solar alone would account for nearly 19.9% of total U.S. capacity.

In terms of battery storage, capacity grew by 17,301.8 megawatts over the past 12 months. The EIA expects an additional 23,523.8 megawatts to be added by April 1, 2027, bringing total capacity to 69,971.1 megawatts, an increase of over 50%. By early spring 2027, utility-scale renewables and battery storage together will provide 80,604.4 megawatts of new clean energy capacity, a figure that could approach 87,000 megawatts when including small-scale solar.

In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, the EIA forecasts that utility-scale solar installed capacity will grow by 43.3% from 150 gigawatts at the end of 2025 to 215 gigawatts by the end of 2027; actual generation will increase by 41.6%, from 0.293 billion kilowatt-hours to 0.415 billion kilowatt-hours. Wind capacity will grow by 12.6% from 159 gigawatts to 179 gigawatts, with generation increasing by 12.5% to 0.522 billion kilowatt-hours. Battery storage capacity, at 42 gigawatts at the end of 2025, is expected to double to 85 gigawatts by the end of 2027.

In its latest Energy Infrastructure Update, FERC reports that from January 2026 to December 2028, the "high probability" net total capacity additions for utility-scale solar could reach 86,126 megawatts, wind could be 19,821 megawatts, and a combination of hydropower, biomass, and geothermal could add another 540 megawatts. This would increase the share of renewables in utility-scale installed capacity from 33.0% at the end of 2025 to 38.8% by the end of 2028. Over the same period, net additions for natural gas are only 8,154 megawatts, while coal and oil capacity decrease by 40,828 megawatts and 1,590 megawatts, respectively, with zero new nuclear capacity.

In its latest Annual Energy Outlook, the EIA projects that utility-scale solar capacity will expand from 154.5 gigawatts at the end of 2025 to 257.7 gigawatts by the end of 2030, an increase of more than two-thirds; annual generation will rise from 275.3 billion kilowatt-hours to 578.7 billion kilowatt-hours. Wind installed capacity will grow from 159.0 gigawatts to 204.4 gigawatts, with offshore wind capacity increasing nearly tenfold to 9.7 gigawatts; annual generation will rise from 463.9 billion kilowatt-hours to 662.8 billion kilowatt-hours. Total capacity for all utility-scale renewables will grow by nearly 40% from 400.2 gigawatts to 559.4 gigawatts, with actual generation increasing from 1,118.8 billion kilowatt-hours to 1,564.0 billion kilowatt-hours.

Ken Bossong, Executive Director of the SUN DAY Campaign, stated: "The Trump administration is now one-third of the way through its term and has largely failed to halt the clean energy transition. Renewables and battery storage will continue to dominate new generating capacity and generation."

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