REPORT: Clean Power Capacity Grows to Power 80 Million Homes in Q1, Despite Slowdown in the Wind Sector
Jun 2 2026
- Cumulative clean power capacity hit 370 GWin Q1 2026, enough to powernearly 80million homes.
- 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%.
WASHINGTON, D.C.,June 2, 2026– The 鶹Ƶ Association (ACP) released itsQ12026Clean Power Quarterly Market Reporttoday,showcasingcontinuedsteady development in the solar and storage sectors,along with a slowingpipeline forwind projectsdue to ongoing federal pushback and delays.
Developers brought6.4gigawatts (GW) of new utility-scale solar, wind, and energy storageonlineinQ1 2026—pushing the cumulative clean power capacity in the US to over 370 GW.That’senough electricity to powernearly 80million homes across the country.
The pipeline for clean power projectsroseby6%compared toQ12025, driven primarily by a13% growth in thesolar pipeline and 8% growth in thebattery storagepipeline. In contrast, the pipeline for land-based windhas stagnated, and offshore wind has plummeted by 35%. Early-and-mid-stage land-based wind projects havestruggled tosecureapprovals from federal regulators,and offshorewindcontinues toweatherpermittingroadblocks anduncertainty.
“Clean energy projects are the fastest to deploy asAmericanelectricity demand rises and energy prices increase,” saidACP Chief Policy Officer JC Sandberg. “Unfortunately,American families are footing the bill for thepoliticized bureaucracythathashaltedwind projectsaimed atpoweringmillions of homesandkeepingcosts low.Americans need policies that speedclean energydeployment, not delay it.”
Q12026Toplines:
- 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 power590,000homes.
- 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.
- DelaysAdd 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 developersattribute project delays to lengthy permittingprocesses, backlogged interconnection queues, and fluctuating prices for key project equipment.
- Texas Continues toDominate:With over 96.4 GW of clean power projects in operation, Texas is on the verge of becoming the first state to cross the 100 GW threshold. Texasis home to 26% of onlineclean powercapacity in the U.S. and has more operational capacity than the next four states combined.
Explore the full reportfor more data and analysis.
