A review by the Sun Day Campaign of newly released data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) shows that solar and wind accounted for over 98% of new electricity generation capacity added in the United States in January.
According to FERC's latest monthly "Energy Infrastructure Update" report, which includes data through 31 January 2025, 63 solar units totalling 2,945 MW were brought online, along with five wind units providing 1,301 MW. Together, these sources represented 98.4% of the month’s new capacity additions, with the remainder coming from natural gas (60 MW) and oil (11 MW).
Wind power made up 30.1% of the new capacity added in January, with more wind capacity installed than in any single month of 2024. Key projects contributing to this growth include the 390.4 MW Cedar Springs Wind IV and 330.0 MW Boswell Wind Farm in Wyoming, the 300.0 MW Prosperity Wind Farm in Illinois, and the 201.0 MW Golden Hills Wind Farm Expansion in Oregon.
Solar now accounts for 10.5% of total U.S. installed utility-scale generation capacity, while wind stands at 11.8%. Combined, these two sources make up 22.3% of the nation’s total capacity. When hydropower (7.6%), biomass (1.1%), and geothermal (0.3%) are included, renewables collectively account for 31.3% of total U.S. utility-scale capacity. Factoring in small-scale solar, renewables now make up about one-third of the country’s total generation capacity.
FERC forecasts that between February 2025 and January 2028, wind will see net "high probability" capacity additions of 22,312 MW, making it the second fastest-growing energy source. Solar leads the projections with expected net additions of 89,033 MW.
