Renewable energy reaches record levels in U.S. and Colorado

Renewable energy sources accounted for 30.2% of total United States electrical generation during the first half of 2026, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). This represents an 11% growth in renewable generation compared to the same period in 2025. The expansion was driven by utility-scale solar, small-scale solar, hydropower, and wind. Notably, wind and solar combined produced 58% more electricity than the nation’s coal plants during this period.

In Colorado, renewable energy reached a record high, constituting 56.1% of the state’s total electricity supply during the second quarter of 2026. For the first half of the year, the state's renewable fraction stood at 54.7%. Solar power in Colorado generated 17% of the state's electricity, surpassing coal, which provided 13%.

Over the past five years, the U.S. has seen significant capacity shifts: utility-scale solar capacity has tripled, wind capacity has increased by nearly a third, and utility-scale battery storage has grown approximately 20-fold. Projections suggest that renewables and battery storage will add roughly 82.9 gigawatts of new capacity in the U.S. by mid-2027.