US Power Sector Shows Dominance of Utility-Scale Solar and Batteries in First Half of 2026

In the first half of 2026, a total of 368 utility-scale power plants went online across the US, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration. The list is dominated by utility-scale solar projects, with 207 new installations, followed by batteries with 95. This trend indicates a shift towards renewable energy sources, particularly solar and battery storage systems.

The largest wind farms in the country, SunZia Wind South and SunZia Wind North in New Mexico, went online this spring, but they are not indicative of an onshore wind-energy boom as they have been in development for over a decade.

The Trumbull Energy Center in Ohio, a 900-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas plant, is the second largest new power plant. The fourth-largest new plant is Vineyard Wind, an offshore wind project near Massachusetts, followed by Green River Energy Center in Utah, with 800 megawatts that includes 400 megawatts of solar and 400 megawatts of batteries.

Eric Gimon, a senior fellow at Energy Innovation, explains that the bulk of new projects are small and mid-size utility-scale solar. These projects are not attention-grabbing but are almost everywhere, with many paired with batteries. Texas was the leader in new generating capacity, with a power mix that leaned more heavily on batteries and gas than other states.

Looking ahead, the Energy Information Administration's list of planned power plants shows that the utility-scale solar boom is likely to continue, and the final years of this decade are shaping up to bring a boom in natural gas power plants. However, the exact size of these booms remains uncertain due to factors such as electricity demand growth and AI data center consumption.