A Record If Realized, and More Than Half of It Solar: EIA on the Capacity Planned for 2026

In a note of February 20, 2026, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, EIA, reported what power plant developers and operators expect to add to the U.S. grid in 2026. Its title is "New U.S. electric generating capacity expected to reach a record high in 2026." The plans come from the agency's Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory, and the note breaks them down by technology. The note calls the total "a record if realized."

The record, if realized

The plan would be a record. In the expected total, developers and operators "plan to add 86 gigawatts (GW) of new utility-scale electric generating capacity to the U.S. power grid in 2026." In the expected mix, "Solar power makes up 51% of the planned 2026 capacity additions, followed by battery storage at 28% and wind at 14%."

The note sets the plan beside the year before. "In 2025, 53 GW of new capacity was added to the grid, the largest capacity installation in a single year since 2002." That year is counted. This one is planned.

A plan reported in February is a list of intentions. The distance between a plan and a plant in service is where a data center's power date is won or lost.

Solar, storage and wind

Of the expected additions, solar is the largest, and "Developers plan to add 43.4 GW of new utility-scale solar capacity in 2026, a 60% increase in capacity additions from last year if realized." Battery storage comes next, with an expected 24 GW of utility-scale storage this year, against a record 15 GW added in 2025.

Wind additions have slowed since record years in 2020 and 2021, the note says. For this year, expected wind capacity additions "could rise in 2026 with 11.8 GW planned to be added to the grid, more than double the capacity added last year." Could.

Natural gas

Natural gas comes after them. Of the expected 2026 additions, "developers plan to add 6.3 GW of new natural gas-fired capacity." Within it, "Combined-cycle generation is expected to account for 3.3 GW of the planned additions, while combustion turbine units account for 2.8 GW." It also says most of the planned gas capacity will be in five states, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, Tennessee and Florida.

Solar leads the plan, followed by storage and wind, and solar and wind both depend on the weather. For a data center that needs power at every hour, the smaller line on gas may matter more than the headline record.