Powering Up: American Clean Power’s Top Trends
2025 was a huge year for American clean power. Annual deployments broke 50 GW for the first time. Battery energy storage broke records every quarter. Land-based wind annual additions almost doubled. Solar installations had the second strongest year on record. And the $79 billion spent on these new projects supported 1.4 million American jobs.
But even more is on the way. ACP’s Power Capacity Outlook expects over 80% of new power installations through 2030 to be clean energy – new electrons that meet rising demand and increase reliability are overwhelmingly clean electrons.
The strongest trends? Clean power delivering for Americans:
- Strong annual deployments continue. At the end of 2025, the U.S. reached a record high of 188 GW of clean power in the pipeline. Consultant forecasts anticipate between 46-62 GW more on the way by the end of this year, keeping 2026 on par with record-breaking 2024 and 2025. The strength of deployments is heavily determined by a market and policy environment from earlier in the decade, as development decisions are finalized years ahead of projects coming online.
- Natural gas prices spike, clean energy users save. Wholesale electricity rates rose 41% on average in 2025, primarily due to higher natural gas prices and demand spikes during extreme weather events. The Northeast, a region highly dependent on natural gas, had an average year-over-year wholesale electricity price increase of 60%, while regions with less natural gas dependency and higher clean energy penetration saw an average increase of only 13%. With natural gas prices still on the rise and an increasing likelihood of extreme weather events, the role of clean energy in derisking wholesale prices has never been more critical.
- Battery storage capacity is on track to break 50 GW. Battery energy storage systems (BESS) closed out 2025 with 45 GW/126 GWh of capacity in operation. Across the nation, battery storage deployments have grown exponentially, rising an average of 86% each year since 2020. At that pace, BESS is expected to surpass the 50 GW milestone by the end of this year.
- Utility-scale solar will overtake land-based wind in total operational capacity. Land-based wind has historically dominated U.S. clean power capacity. But the winds are shifting – operational land-based wind ended 2025 at nearly 161 GW while utility-scale solar reached 157 GW. Annual installations for utility-scale solar have been at least three times greater than the annual installations for land-based wind over the past three years. If this trend continues, utility-scale solar will take over as the leader in operational clean power capacity by the end of 2026.
- Offshore wind is set to overcome barriers and support the grid. Despite regulatory and developmental hurdles, five commercial-scale offshore wind projects representing 6 GW are nearing completion. Three of the projects have already begun delivering power to the grid, two of which hit first power within the first quarter of 2026. With current operational offshore wind capacity at just 174 MW, this new capacity will provide a major boost to the northeastern grid.
- Ten states are doubling operational capacity. Ten U.S. states have enough clean power in the pipeline to more than double their current operational capacity in the coming years: Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, and Virginia. Three of those ten (Arizona, New York, and Virginia) currently have more than 5 GW in the pipeline.
- Total share of natural gas generation fell. Despite adding 4 GW of net operational capacity in 2025 (culminating in a total of 578 GW), natural gas’ share of total electricity generation in the U.S. fell from 43% to 40%. This is thanks in part to an influx of clean energy to the grid displacing natural gas generation during high demand hours – power from solar and batteries during the day and early evening reduced the need for natural gas generation.
Dive deeper into these insights in ACP’s Annual Clean Power Market Report.
Want to learn more about the latest clean power trends? Join ACP in Houston on June 1-4 for CLEANPOWER, the industry’s premier event for cutting-edge discussions about bringing new electrons onto the grid. Be a part of charting America’s energy future with top companies, experts, policymakers, and leaders across all types of energy.
