Overview
- EIA data indicate utility-scale solar, wind and battery projects will add over 80 GW of capacity by February 28, 2027, while fossil fuel and nuclear capacity posts a net decline of about 5 GW as renewables’ share rises from 33.4% to 36.6%.
- Solar leads with about 42.6 GW of new capacity and wind adds roughly 14.5 GW, including about 4,155 MW offshore, as battery storage expands about 51% from roughly 44.6 GW to 67.6 GW to help balance variable output.
- The 12‑month increase in renewable capacity totals about 57.45 GW, which is nearly 75% higher than the roughly 32.99 GW added in the previous year.
- EIA’s forecast excludes rooftop and other small-scale solar, but if new distributed solar matches last year’s roughly 6 GW, the SUN DAY Campaign estimates renewables could reach about 39.7% of capacity and solar about 19.7%, with natural gas near 38.3%.
- Early 2026 generation data show renewables up 10.8% and supplying 26% of U.S. electricity, with the combined output of wind and solar exceeding that of either coal or nuclear over January and February.