Renewable energy supplied 28.1% of total US electricity generation during the first eight months of this year, with output from renewable sources rising by 10.2% year-on-year, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign.
According to the data, renewable generation has grown significantly faster than overall US electricity production, which increased by 2.6% over the same period.
‘Unstoppable growth’
“The growth of solar, wind, and battery storage has become unstoppable,” commented Ken Bossong, executive director, SUN DAY Campaign. “Meanwhile, the share of the nation’s electrical generation and generating capacity provided by fossil fuels and nuclear continues to shrink.”
According to EIA data, utility-scale solar generation increased by 20% over the eight-month period, while small-scale solar rose by 12%. Wind generation increased by 7.8%, hydropower by 4.2% and geothermal generation by 3.8%.e
By comparison, electricity generation from natural gas increased by 2.6% and nuclear generation by 1.3%, while coal-fired generation fell by 8.7%.
In the period from January to August 2026, wind and solar together accounted for more than a fifth (21.1%) of US electricity generation, with combined wind and solar generation accounting for 662,486 gigawatt-hours, compared with 531,031 GWh from nuclear power and 458,609 GWh from coal.
In addition, over the past year – i.e. between September 2025 and August 2026 – renewable energy capacity increased by 43,497.9 megawatts (MW), including 27,141.7 MW of utility-scale solar, 6,526.1 MW of small-scale solar and 9,979.1 MW of wind capacity.
Projections from the EIA suggest that utility-scale renewable capacity will increase by a further 53,117.3 MW during the 12 months to August 2027, led by solar (+44,603.1 MW).
Renewable generation
If small-scale solar is included, the SUN DAY Campaign estimates that renewable generating capacity could reach around 550,000 MW by September 2027. This compares with projected natural gas capacity of around 518,313 MW.
‘Solar power’s share alone would be more than one-fifth (20.7%) of total US generating capacity’, it noted. Read more here.
