Stacked bars
U.S. Generating Capacity Added, by Fuel
Nameplate capacity of power plants that entered service each year, by technology, gigawatts
Plays the chart through its history. Pauses are where the data set a record or moved most.
EIA Form 860M, nameplate capacity of plants of 1 MW or more in the 50 states and DC. Rooftop solar is not included. Complete years only; units count in the year they entered service, including those since retired. Nameplate capacity is maximum output: a gigawatt of solar generates far less in a year than a gigawatt of gas or nuclear.
The new power plants the U.S. switches on each year, stacked by technology. The early 2000s were a gas-building boom; since then the additions have shifted to wind, then solar and batteries, as data centers and electrification push demand up again.
What this chart reads·6 series
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- U.S. Solar Generating Capacity Added · Annual (GW)as “Solar”latest 2025-01-01
- U.S. Wind Generating Capacity Added · Annual (GW)as “Wind”latest 2025-01-01
- U.S. Battery Storage Generating Capacity Added · Annual (GW)as “Battery storage”latest 2025-01-01
- U.S. Natural Gas Generating Capacity Added · Annual (GW)as “Natural gas”latest 2025-01-01
- U.S. Nuclear Generating Capacity Added · Annual (GW)as “Nuclear”latest 2025-01-01
- U.S. Other Generating Capacity Added · Annual (GW)as “Other”latest 2025-01-01
Sources·6 sources
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U.S. Solar Generating Capacity Added · Annual (GW). Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860M, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860m). Public domain. Refreshed weekly.
U.S. Wind Generating Capacity Added · Annual (GW). Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860M, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860m). Public domain. Refreshed weekly.
U.S. Battery Storage Generating Capacity Added · Annual (GW). Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860M, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860m). Public domain. Refreshed weekly.
U.S. Natural Gas Generating Capacity Added · Annual (GW). Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860M, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860m). Public domain. Refreshed weekly.
U.S. Nuclear Generating Capacity Added · Annual (GW). Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860M, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860m). Public domain. Refreshed weekly.
U.S. Other Generating Capacity Added · Annual (GW). Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860M, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory (eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860m). Public domain. Refreshed weekly.
Charts are drawn from Palanor's signal library and recomputed from source data on every view. Transformations (changes, indexing, year-on-year rates) are Palanor's.