U.S. clean power capacity reaches 388 GW after 45% Q2 surge

The United States saw a 45% year-over-year increase in clean power additions during the second quarter of 2026, with developers adding 17.1 GW of new utility-scale capacity. This brings the nation's cumulative clean power capacity to nearly 388 GW, enough to supply over 83 million households.

Utility-scale solar led the quarter with 7.4 GW commissioned, followed by nearly 5 GW of land-based wind and 4.7 GW of battery energy storage. A significant driver for wind deployment was Pattern Energy’s 3.65 GW SunZia Wind project in New Mexico, which is the largest land-based wind installation built in the U.S. to date. This project helped New Mexico overtake Texas as the top state for new clean power capacity additions.

The surge in utility-scale activity is partly attributed to a “safe harbour” period, as developers rushed to place projects in service to secure tax credits before a scheduled phaseout on July 4, 2026. While utility-scale solar and storage saw significant growth, residential PV installations and community solar experienced declines compared to the previous year.