Investors, Utilities & Energy Providers Are Choosing Faster and Cheaper Renewable Energy Supplies for Electricity Across the U.S.
Despite Trump, renewable energy keeps surging by Barbara Grady – January 29, 2026 – Yale Climate Connections – A funny thing happened on the way to President Trump’s mission to obliterate renewable energy. Solar and wind energy use is surging, especially globally, but even in the U.S.
- In in the U.S., renewable generation grew substantially, with solar generation up 37% last year and wind up 12%. The Energy Information Administration says renewables provided 24% of U.S. electricity generation last year.
- For at least one month, March 2025, renewables supplied more than half the electricity generated nationwide in the U.S. That was the first time ever that fossil fuels supplied less than half of total U.S. electricity generation.
- Why? It’s simple economics. The cost of solar and wind generation plummeted in the past 15 years. Utility-scale solar generation, meaning the cost to an electric utility to generate electricity from solar, fell 85% in the decade between 2010 and 2020. Things got complicated during the pandemic because of supply chain snags, but then in 2023 prices fell by 12%. Prices fell again in 2024.
- Solar and wind are less expensive for generating electricity than natural gas or coal, according to PV Magazine’s report on Lazard’s Levelized Cost of Energy for 2025.
- Utility-scale solar costs between four and eight cents per kilowatt-hour, even without the subsidies that Republicans killed with the reversal of the Inflation Reduction Act. With battery storage added, solar generation costs five cents to 13 cents. By comparison, generating electricity from natural gas costs 13.8 to 26 cents per kilowatt-hour, according to PV magazine & Lazard. Coal is even more expensive.
- Solar alone provided about 85% of all new electricity added to the U.S. grid last year, according to the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA).
- Even though the Trump administration favors fossil fuels over renewables, the SEIA noted that 73% of new solar capacity added in the U.S. in 2025 was added in Republican states. Among the 10 states adding the most solar capacity were Texas, Indiana, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Utah, Kentucky, and Arkansas.
- Iowa gets 60% of its electricity from renewable sources, according to the state government, and at certain times last year, wind energy alone accounted for 64% of its electricity generation. In Texas, renewable energy supplied 40% of electricity generation in early 2024, according to Conservative Texans for Energy Innovation. Wind and solar became the cost-effective bet partly because battery storage improved and adoption of battery storage doubled.
2024 Clean Energy – New Power Plant Electricity – 96%
Clean energy is still winning. Here are the charts to prove it – by Kathryn Krawczyk – December 26, 2025 – Canary Media – Solar and wind beat other new power demand options & market choices. The U.S. added 56 gigawatts of power to the grid in 2024, and nearly all of it came from solar, battery, wind, nuclear, and other carbon-free installations.
96 percent of new US power capacity was carbon-free in 2024
In a first, clean energy beat fossil fuels on the US grid in March 2025
In the U.S. – solar, hydropower, biofuels, and nuclear produced 51% of all electric power demand in March 2025, while fossil fuels accounted for the remaining 49%.
2025 Clean Energy – New Power Plant Electricity – 92%
92 percent of new US power capacity was carbon-free in 2025
While it may have seemed that 2025 would be a dismal year for clean energy deployment in the U.S., it simply wasn’t. Solar, wind, and storage accounted for 92% of new power capacity added to the grid through November 2025.
Source: Cleanview • Chart by Canary Media
Note: Figures do not total to 100% because of rounding and exclusion of “other” category, which accounted for 0.25% of new capacity additions.
U.S. Renewables: Key Risks & Strategies for Sustainable Growth – by Rosa van Reyk and Michael Galea – February 2, 2026 – Power – In 2025, the U.S. renewable energy market demonstrated its resilience. Despite setbacks ranging from weather and climate disasters, global trade tensions, and the termination of tax credit eligibility, 92% of new power capacity added to the grid in 2025 came from renewable energy sources.
2026 Clean Energy – Projected New Power Plant Electricity – 93%
New U.S. Electric Generating Capacity Expected to Reach a Record High in 2026
February 22, 2026 – by Paul Ciampoli – American Public Power Association – U.S. power plant developers and operators plan to add a record 86 gigawatts (GW) of new utility-scale electric generating capacity to the U.S. power grid in 2026 in the Energy Information Administration’s Electric Generator Inventory Report. Solar power makes up 51% of the planned 2026 capacity additions, followed by battery storage at 28% and wind at 14%. In 2026, developers plan to add 6.3 GW of new natural gas-fired capacity.
Chart: US to overwhelmingly build clean power in 2026 – By Julian Spector – Canary Media – Feb. 27, 2026 – DOE’s Energy Information Administration projects U.S. developers are on pace to add 86 gigawatts of new utility-scale generating capacity to the U.S. grid in 2026. Just 7% of that will come from natural gas. Clean energy additions will vastly outpace gas as 93% of new generating capacity in 2026 will come from solar, batteries, and wind.
Beyond 2026 – Why MAGA suddenly loves solar power – by Evan Halper – Wash. Post – March 2, 2026 – The X feed of right-wing firebrand and podcaster Katie Miller has all the signatures of an acolyte of Donald Trump. But recently her Make America Great Again fire hose has also contained posts that seem off-brand for the former GOP official – “Solar energy is the energy of the future,” Katie Miller posted recently. Another of her posts suggested solar is more vital to the U.S. than coal power, contradicting White House messaging and policy. Asked if she is getting paid for her advocacy, like some other MAGA heavyweights promoting solar, Miller would not comment. The solar industry has enlisted two pollsters central to his political movement, Conway and Fabrizio, to build the case.