Clean Power Quarterly Market Report  For  Q1 2026

U.S. developers deployed 6.4 GW of new clean power capacity in the first quarter of 2026. Cumulative clean power capacity across the US hit 370 GW, enough to power nearly 80 million homes.  

The Q1 2026 Clean Power Market Report showcases steady development in the solar and storage sectors, while the pipeline for wind projects has slowed, due to ongoing federal pushback and delays.  

The pipeline for clean power projects rose by 6% compared to Q1 2025, driven primarily by a 13% growth in the solar pipeline and 8% growth in the battery storage pipeline. In contrast, the pipeline for land-based wind has stagnated, and offshore wind has plummeted by 35%. Early-and-mid-stage land-based wind projects have struggled to secure approvals from federal regulators, and offshore wind continues to weather permitting roadblocks and uncertainty. 

Report Highlights 

• Capacity Continues to Climb: Cumulative clean power capacity hit 370 GW in Q1 2026, enough to power nearly 80 million homes.   

• Pipeline in Flux: The pipeline for clean power projects rose by 6% compared to Q1 2025, driven primarily by a 13% growth in the solar pipeline and 8% growth in the battery storage pipeline. Due to ongoing federal delays, the pipeline for land-based wind has stagnated, and offshore wind has plummeted by 35%.

• Solar Shines: More than 3.6 GW of utility-scale solar capacity began operations in the first quarter, pushing cumulative operating capacity to 161.1 GW, enough to power 590,000 homes.

• A Slow Quarter for Capacity Installations: Year-over-year, overall clean energy quarterly capacity installations were down by 17%, compared to the 7,695 MW of capacity energized in Q1 2025. Q1 installations also fell by 66% compared to Q4 2025, which can generally be expected as first quarters are typically much slower than fourth quarters.

• Delays Add Up: Over 6.4 GW of clean power capacity initially expected to become operational during Q1 were delayed, adding to the 53 GW backlog of delayed projects. Project developers often attribute project delays to lengthy permitting schemes, backlogged interconnection queues, and fluctuating prices for key project equipment. 

• Texas Continues to Dominate: With over 96.4 GW of clean power projects in operations, Texas is on the verge of becoming the first state to cross the 100 GW threshold. Texas is home to 26% of online capacity in the U.S. and has more operational capacity than the next four states combined.