The States Driving America’s Clean Power Boom

Title: The States Driving America’s Clean Power Boom 

By Sean Chung 

Halfway through 2026, the clean power industry has demonstrated that clean energy is here to stay — solar, wind, and battery storage will play a leading role in an era of rising electric demand. 

Developers energized a record-breaking 17.1 GW of new clean power capacity during the second quarter, pushing H1 installations to 23.9 GW (enough to power over 4 million homes!). Even as the industry faces policy uncertainty, the pipeline of development-stage projects has risen to 205 GW, a new high.   

A historic project led the way this quarter: Pattern Energy’s 3.65 GW SunZia Wind project, which was announced operational at ACP’s CLEANPOWER Conference in June. Over 18 years in the making, SunZia is the largest land-based wind project in U.S. history, and 4x the size of the second largest wind project. A 550-mile high-voltage transmission line connects 916 wind turbines in New Mexico to the CAISO grid, delivering low-cost wind energy to communities in Arizona and California. 

Not only is SunZia boosting clean power generation in the West, it is also expected to generate $20.5 billion in economic benefits over the lifetime of the project. The 2,000 construction jobs and 100 permanent jobs, along with $1.3 billion in annual payments to local governments and landowners, will serve as a massive economic driver in the region. The deployment of wind turbines manufactured in the U.S. by GE Vernova and Vestas supports the domestic supply chain and manufacturing jobs. 

New Mexico isn’t the only state worth celebrating this quarter. Over 33 states have more than 1 GW of clean power projects in development. States like Kentucky and Tennessee, late-adopters of clean energy, have more than enough projects in development to double their operational capacity over the next few years. Utilities and C&I buyers across the nation are investing aggressively to bring clean power projects online as soon as possible. 

Clean Power Projects in the Pipeline

During Q2, Cypress Creek Energy and Google announced one of the largest power purchase agreements in history, 1.6 GWdc of solar and 1.9 GWh of battery storage from the Steel River Energy Center in Arkansas. Since acquiring Intersect earlier in the year, Google also broke ground on the more than one gigawatt Meitner Energy Center in Texas. In Michigan, DTE Energy and Oracle inked an agreement to deploy 1.5 GW of battery storage systems manufactured by LG Energy Solution Vertech over the next few years. 

Offtake Announcements Over Time

As the industry builds across the U.S., companies are creating jobs, reviving U.S. manufacturing, funding local governments, and supporting farmers with drought-proof lease payments, all while delivering reliable, low-cost electricity to communities.

Explore the latest Quarterly Clean Power Market Report, and dive into the updated State Fact Sheets!