New solar plants to power majority of US electricity generation growth, EIA says

The U.S. Energy Information Agency expects growth in U.S. power generation over the next two years to be mostly driven by new solar plants, it said on Friday.

The EIA said in a note that U.S. utilities and independent power producers are expected to add 26 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity in 2025 and another 22 GW through 2026.

In 2024, the electric power sector added a record 37 GW of solar power capacity, almost double the 2023 additions.

The agency forecasts that U.S. coal retirements will accelerate, removing 6% (11 GW) of coal generating capacity from the U.S. electricity sector in 2025 and another 2% (4 GW) in 2026.