A review by the Sun Day Campaign of newly released data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) shows that wind and solar together accounted for almost 90% of new US electrical generating capacity added in the first seven months of 2025. Wind provided 3,288 MW, representing 15.2% of all new capacity, and outpaced natural gas additions of 2,207 MW.
Solar remained the leading source of new capacity, making up 96% of the additions in July and 74% for the year-to-date. By July 2025, utility-scale solar represented 11.42% of total US installed capacity, close to wind’s 11.81%. Combined, they now provide more than 23% of total capacity, and when including small-scale solar systems, their share exceeds a quarter.
Other renewable sources added smaller amounts of new capacity in the first seven months of 2025: 4 MW of hydropower and 3 MW of biomass. In total, renewables accounted for 89.6% of new capacity during this period, compared with 10.2% from natural gas and marginal contributions from coal, oil and waste heat. Overall, renewables now provide 32.22% of US utility-scale generating capacity, rising to more than one-third if small-scale solar is included.
Looking ahead, FERC projects that between August 2025 and July 2028, solar will add 92,631 MW of net “high probability” capacity, more than four times the 22,528 MW expected from wind. Hydropower (579 MW) and geothermal (92 MW) are also expected to grow modestly, while biomass will contract slightly. By mid-2028, utility-scale solar is forecast to reach more than 17% of US generating capacity, second only to natural gas. With the inclusion of small-scale solar, renewables are set to overtake natural gas as the country’s leading energy source.
