America’s power landscape is shifting dramatically. A whopping 63 GW of new capacity will hit the grid in 2025, with solar and batteries accounting for 81% of additions. Fossil fuels? Pretty much over. Solar’s rocketing to 6% of total generation while wind expands with 7.7 GW of new capacity. Texas is dominating installations, naturally. The transformation, driven by the Inflation Reduction Act and data center demand, marks a real turning point in America’s energy story.
Dozens of gigawatts are surging into America’s power grid, and fossil fuels aren’t invited to the party. A staggering 63 GW of new capacity additions are expected in 2025, marking a 30% increase from the 48.6 GW installed in 2024. Solar and battery storage are the cool kids now, accounting for a whopping 81% of these additions. The fossil fuel era? Consider it over.
Solar dominance is becoming impossible to ignore. With 32.5 GW of new utility-scale capacity expected in 2025, it’s crushing the competition. Last year, solar made up 61% of capacity additions with 30 GW. Texas and California are showing off as usual, leading with 11.6 GW and 2.9 GW respectively. Five more states are joining the gigawatt club: Indiana, Arizona, Michigan, Florida, and New York. By year’s end, solar will make up 6% of total generation. Not bad for the new kid.
Solar isn’t just growing—it’s dominating the energy scene like a rockstar on a sold-out tour.
Battery storage is booming too. An impressive 18.2 GW of utility-scale batteries are planned for 2025, building on the record 10.3 GW added in 2024. These aren’t just fancy power banks. They balance supply and demand, improve grid stability, and store excess renewable energy for later. Think of them as electricity’s best supporting actor. The Desert Sunshine system, with up to 300 MW capacity, exemplifies this battery storage revolution. This growth reinforces the critical role of storage in solving intermittency issues with renewable energy sources.
Wind isn’t sitting still either. It’s adding 7.7 GW in 2025, up from 5.1 GW in 2024. Texas, Wyoming, and Massachusetts are leading the charge, with two large offshore wind plants coming online. Wind’s expected to hit 12% of the generation mix soon. This growth builds on wind power’s existing 14.4% contribution to the national electricity generation mix.
Meanwhile, natural gas is barely hanging on with just 4.4 GW planned. Coal’s contribution is shrinking from 20% to 18%. Natural gas? Dropping a point to 38%. Sorry, fossil fuels.
This transformation isn’t happening by accident. The Inflation Reduction Act is pumping $114 billion into renewable energy investments by 2031. Data centers and EV factories are driving demand too.
