A review by the SUN DAY Campaign of months-overdue data recently released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) reveals that solar and wind accounted for 95% of U.S. electrical generating capacity added during the first quarter of 2026 (1Q26).
For more than two and one-half years, solar has dominate new monthly capacity additions. As a consequence, installed utility-scale solar capacity now exceeds the individual capacities of nuclear power, wind, hydropower, biomass, geothermal, and oil.
Further, FERC foresees solar adding another 106.5 gigawatts (GW) over the next three years with an additional 26.7-GW coming from new wind capacity. By the end of that period, the installed capacities of solar and wind will each surpass that of coal.
Solar was 78% of new generating capacity in 1Q26:
In its latest monthly "Energy Infrastructure Update" report (with data through March 31, 2026), FERC says 143 "units" of solar totaling 6,034.4 megawatts (MW) were placed into service in the first quarter of this year, accounting for 78.0% of all new generating capacity added during the three-month period.
At least through the end of March, solar has been the largest source of new generating capacity added each month for 31 months straight: September 2023 - March 2026. During that period, total utility-scale solar capacity grew from 91.82-GW to 175.34-GW. No other energy source added anything close to that amount of new capacity. Wind, for example, expanded by 16.24-GW while natural gas' net increase was just 8.70-GW. [1]
As a consequence, the installed generating capacity of utility-scale solar is now 12.8%, i.e., more than one-eighth of the nation's total. It has surpassed that of wind (163.9-GW/12.0%), nuclear power (104.4-GW/7.6%), and hydropower (101.9-GW/7.4%).
Wind capacity additions in 1Q26 were more than 3x those of natural gas:
New wind capacity additions in 1Q26 accounted for 1,316.1-MW or 17.0% of the total.
By comparison, natural gas provided only 382.8-MW.
Renewables were more than 95% of new capacity added in 1Q26:
In 1Q26, wind and solar (joined by 4.8-MW of biomass) accounted for over 95% of all new generating capacity while natural gas added less than 5%. No capacity additions were reported for any other energy sources.
Solar + wind are a quarter of U.S. generating capacity; all renewables combined are over a third:
Combined, wind and solar constitute nearly a quarter (24.8%) of the U.S.'s total available installed utility-scale generating capacity.
Moreover, more than one-fourth of U.S. solar capacity is in the form of small-scale (e.g., rooftop) systems that are not reflected in FERC's data. [2] Including that additional solar capacity would bring the share provided by solar + wind to well over 25% of the nation's total.
With the inclusion of hydropower (7.4%), biomass (1.0%) and geothermal (0.3%), renewables currently claim a 33.6% share of total U.S. utility-scale generating capacity. If small-scale solar capacity is included, renewables are now more than 35% of total U.S. generating capacity.
Solar remains on track to become the second largest source of U.S. generating capacity:
FERC reports that net "high probability" net additions of solar over the three-year period April 2026 - March 2029 total 106,520-MW - an amount four times the forecast net "high probability" additions for wind (26,699-MW), the second fastest growing resource. Further, the average annual combined growth by solar and wind during the next three years (44,406-MW/yr.) would surpass that experienced during the last two (40,350-MW/yr.), suggesting an acceleration rather than a slow-down notwithstanding the hostile policies of the Trump Administration.
FERC also foresees net growth for hydropower (1,350-MW) and geothermal (482-MW) but a decrease of 185-MW in biomass capacity.
Meanwhile, natural gas capacity would expand by much less (47,449-MW), and nuclear power would add just 385-MW, while coal is projected to contract by a massive 31,371-MW and oil is forecast to fall by 1,013-MW.
Taken together, the net new "high probability" utility-scale capacity additions by all renewable energy sources through the end of March 2029 - i.e., two months beyond the Trump Administration's remaining time in office - would total 134,866-MW. On the other hand, the installed capacity of fossil fuels and nuclear power combined would grow by just 15,450-MW.
Should FERC's three-year forecast materialize, by April 1, 2029, utility-scale solar would account for 18.6% of installed U.S. generating capacity - more than any other source besides natural gas (40.8%). Further, the capacity of the mix of all utility-scale renewable energy sources would be more than 39%. Inclusion of small-scale solar - assuming it retains its 25% share of all solar - would push solar's share to over 20% and that of all renewables to over 40% while that of natural gas would drop below 39%.
In fact, the numbers for renewables could be significantly higher.
FERC notes that "all additions" (net) for utility-scale solar over the next three years could be as high as 235,320-MW while those for wind could total 62,228-MW. Hydro's net additions could reach 9,528-MW while geothermal could increase by 552-MW. Biomass is forecast to drop by 30-MW.
"No matter how many roadblocks the White House has created, FERC's data underscore its failure to stop the growth of solar and wind energy," noted the SUN DAY Campaign's executive director Ken Bossong. "Moreover, the recent "Blue Tsunami" increases the likelihood that the new Congress as well as state and local governments will enable renewable energy sources to surpass even FERC's rosy forecasts."
Source:
FERC's 8-page "Energy Infrastructure Update for March 2026" was officially posted on October 29, 2026 - approximately four months later than expected and the URL did not work until for multiple days thereafter. FERC's reports for January and February were posted at the same time. The link to the full report can be found at: https://cms.ferc.gov/media/energy-infrastructure-update-march-2026.
For the information cited in this update, see the tables entitled "New Generation In-Service (New Build and Expansion)," "Total Available Installed Generating Capacity," and "Generation Capacity Additions and Retirements (April 2026 - March 2029)".
FERC notes: "Data derived from Hidachi Energy Velocity Suite."
Notes:
[1] Generating capacity is not the same as actual generation. Fossil fuels and nuclear power usually have higher "capacity factors" than do wind and solar. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports capacity factors in calendar year 2025 for nuclear power, combined-cycle natural gas plants and coal were 91.0%, 58.4%, and 48.7% respectively while those for wind and utility-scale solar PV were 34.2% and 24.4%. See Tables 6.07.A and 6.07.B in EIA's most recent "Electric Power Monthly" report.
[2] While FERC does not provide capacity data for small-scale solar, the EIA does. In its latest "Electric Power Monthly" report issued on October 23, 2026, EIA reported that as of August 31, 2026, installed solar capacity totaled 231,261.6-MW of which 63,192.6-MW (i.e., 27.3%) was estimated to have been provided by small-scale solar. See table 6.1 at https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=table_6_01
The SUN DAY Campaign is a non-profit research and educational organization founded in 1992 to support a rapid transition to 100% reliance on sustainable energy technologies as a cost-effective alternative to nuclear power and fossil fuels and as a solution to climate change.
