A review of data released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) shows that the combination of solar and wind accounted for over 90% of new U.S. electrical generating capacity added in the first five months of 2025. In May, solar provided 59% of new capacity, making it the 21st consecutive month in which solar has held the lead among all energy sources.
FERC released the latest “Energy Infrastructure Update” report over a month late. The SUN DAY Campaign reviewed the data and found that 43 new solar projects totaling 1.515 GW were placed into service in May, accounting for 58.7% of all new generating capacity added during the month.
The new facilities included the 305.1-MW Bright Arrow Solar & Storage Project in Texas; the 300-MW Papago Solar & Battery Storage Project in Arizona; the 250-MW Fairbanks Solar Energy Center in Indiana; and the 200-MW Green River Solar Project in Kentucky.
The 11,518 MW of solar added during the first five months of 2025 was 75.3% of the total new capacity placed into service.
Between January and May, new wind provided 2,379 MW of capacity additions, thereby accounting for 15.6% of all new capacity added during the first five months of 2025. For the first five months of the year, the combination of solar and wind was 90.9% of new capacity while natural gas (1,381 MW) provided just 9%; the remaining 0.1% came from oil (14 MW).
The total installed capacities of solar (11.1%) and wind (11.8%) are now each more than one-tenth of the nation’s total. Taken together, they constitute almost one-fourth (22.9%) of the country’s total available installed utility-scale generating capacity.
Moreover, at least 25-30% of U.S. solar capacity is in the form of small-scale/rooftop systems that are not reflected in FERC’s data. Including that additional solar capacity would bring the share provided by solar + wind to more than one-quarter of the nation’s total.
With the inclusion of hydropower (7.7%), biomass (1.1%) and geothermal (0.3%), renewables currently claim a 32.0% share of total U.S. utility-scale generating capacity. If small-scale solar capacity is included, renewables are now about one-third of total U.S. generating capacity.
FERC reports that net “high probability” additions of solar between June 2025 and May 2028 total 89,513-MW – an amount almost four-times the forecast net “high probability” additions for wind (23,019 MW), the second fastest growing resource. FERC also foresees net growth for hydropower (596 MW) and geothermal (92 MW) but a decrease of 123 MW in biomass capacity.
Taken together, the net new “high probability” capacity additions by all renewable energy sources over the next three years would total 113,097 MW.
Alternately, there is no new nuclear capacity in FERC’s three-year forecast while coal and oil are projected to decrease by 24,913 MW and 1,907 MW respectively. Natural gas capacity would expand by 5,992 MW — barely 16% of solar’s potential.
Adjusting for the different capacity factors of gas (59.7%), wind (34.3%) and utility-scale solar (23.4%), electricity generated by the projected new solar capacity to be added in the coming three years should be nearly six-times greater than that produced by the new natural gas capacity while the electrical output by new wind capacity would be more than double that by gas.
If FERC’s current “high probability” additions materialize, by May 1, 2028, solar will account for over one-sixth (16.7%) of the nation’s installed utility-scale generating capacity. Wind would provide an additional one-eighth (12.7%) of the total. Thus, each would be greater than coal (12.2%) and substantially more than either nuclear power or hydropower (both 7.2%).
“FERC’s latest data predate enactment of the Trump Administration’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ which may adversely affect the future growth trajectories of wind and solar,” noted the SUN DAY Campaign’s executive director Ken Bossong. “However, FERC’s forecasts suggest that cleaner and lower-cost renewable energy sources will continue to grow, retaining their lead over coal and nuclear power while closing the gap with natural gas.”
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