EIA data shows renewables added 56GW as fossil capacity slips
A review of newly released EIA data shows utility-scale solar electricity grew 29% over the past year while battery storage expanded by 59%, according to the SUN DAY Campaign.
The group said solar set records in September as utility-scale output rose 36.1% year-on-year and small-scale systems increased 12.7%.
It added that combined solar provided 9.7% of US electricity for the month, up from 7.6% a year earlier.
The campaign said solar generation for the first nine months of 2025 grew 29.0% and supplied just over 9.0% of total output.
According to the analysis, utility-scale solar out-produced wind for the third consecutive month in September.
The group said year-to-date solar generation also exceeded hydropower by almost 65%.
Wind produced 9.8% of US electricity in the first nine months of 2025, up 1.3% on the year.
Wind plus solar supplied 18.8% of total generation, the campaign said.
It added that the mix of all renewables provided 25.6% of US electricity, second only to natural gas.
Between October 2024 and September 2025, utility-scale solar capacity grew by 31,619.5MW alongside 5923.5MW of small-scale additions.
Battery storage added 13,808.9MW of new capacity, an increase of 59.4%, the analysis said.
Wind expanded by 4843.2MW while natural gas capacity grew by 3417.1MW and nuclear added 46.0MW.
The group said coal capacity fell by 3926.1MW and petroleum-based capacity by 606.6MW.
It concluded that total renewable capacity including storage rose by 56,019.7MW while fossil fuels and nuclear combined fell by 1095.2MW.
“The Trump Administration’s efforts to jump-start nuclear power and fossil fuels are not succeeding,” said Ken Bossong. “Capacity additions by solar, wind, and battery storage continue to dramatically outpace gas, coal, and nuclear
and by growing margins.”
