US power developers are set to add a record 86 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale generating capacity to the national grid in 2026, surpassing last year’s 53 GW high watermark.
The US Energy Information Administration flagged this milestone in its latest Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory report, covering planned projects across solar, battery storage, wind and natural gas.
Solar will dominate with 43.4 GW proposed – a 60% jump from 2025’s 27.2 GW – led by Texas (40% of additions), followed by Arizona, California and Michigan. Texas’s Tehuacana Creek 1 Solar and BESS stands out as the year’s largest at 837 MW solar plus 418 MW storage.
Battery storage follows at 24 GW, doubling recent growth trends, with Texas claiming 53% (12.9 GW), California 14% and Arizona 13%; top projects include Texas’s Lunis Creek (621 MW) and Clear Fork Creek (600 MW).
Wind capacity could rebound to 11.8 GW – more than double 2025 levels – concentrated in New Mexico, Texas, Illinois and Wyoming, boosted by offshore giants Vineyard Wind 1 (800 MW, Massachusetts) and Revolution Wind (715 MW, Rhode Island), plus New Mexico’s record 3,650 MW SunZia onshore project.
Natural gas fills out 6.3 GW, mainly combined-cycle and turbine units in Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, Tennessee and Florida, headlined by Texas’s 1,158 MW Orange County Advanced Power Station and Ohio’s 900 MW Trumbull Energy Center.
