The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts solar energy will be the leading force behind this year’s growth in the electric power industry.
So far in January, EIA has issued three brief studies tapping solar energy to be the major player responsible for national electricity generation gains in 2025. (EIA is the statistical agency under the U.S. Department of Energy that is tasked with providing independent analysis and metrics about energy consumption and demand.)
“We expect U.S. utilities and independent power producers will add 26 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity to the U.S. electric power sector in 2025 and 22 GW in 2026,” EIA stated in its latest (Jan. 24) in-brief analysis. “Last year, the electric power sector added a record 37 GW of solar power capacity to the electric power sector, almost double 2023 solar capacity additions.”
Last year, all renewable sources (solar, hydropower, wind, geothermal and biomass) together generated 874 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, the agency stated.
On Jan. 16, EIA noted that its projections about growth in solar electricity generation were tied to analyzing solar projects that traditionally come on line at the end of the calendar year which is the practice for solar power.
“So, the new capacity tends to affect generation growth trends for the following year. Solar is the fastest-growing renewable source because of the larger capacity additions and favorable tax credits policies,” EIA stated.
EIA also predicts that U.S. demand for electricity will grow marginally due to greater power needs from data centers as well as by factories manufacturing semiconductors and batteries.
“U.S. electricity consumption grew by 2% in 2024 after nearly two decades of relatively steady demand. EIA forecasts electricity demand to continue growing at that rate in 2025 and 2026, which would be the first three years of consecutive growth in electricity demand since 2005–07,” according to an EIA energy sector forecast through 2026.
