Texas Is Winning the Race to Build New Power Capacity
June 12, 2026
The Trump administration’s war on renewable energy has had little impact so far this year, as solar generation and battery storage have accounted for 91% of new capacity installed across the U.S.
A new report from the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie released Wednesday also found that Texas is leading the way in new solar, installing 50% more than any other state in the January-March period.
“Texas is actually soon to overtake California for the most total installed solar capacity,” said Daniel Giese, state director for the association.
A separate report from global energy think tank Ember showed solar supplied more electricity than coal in May for the first time on a monthly basis. It accounted for 12.8% of U.S. energy last month, while coal dropped to 12.2%, near its lowest-ever monthly share.
Coal is losing ground in Texas, too. Grid operator the Electric Reliability Council of Texas is expecting solar to exceed coal for the first time later this year — despite President Donald Trump’s advocacy for fossil fuels and denigration of renewables.
That growth is what has set Texas ahead as a renewable energy leader.
While Giese couldn’t say when Texas will overtake California for installed solar, Ember data show it’s already close. California now has 55.5 gigawatts of installed capacity, barely topping Texas’ 53.5 gigawatts.
In the first quarter, Texas installed more than 1 gigawatt more solar capacity than California did. That continued a trend. Last year, Texas installed 11.1 gigawatts of solar while California added 4.6 gigawatts. In fact, Texas already has more utility-scale solar than California, but the Golden State eclipses Texas with total installed capacity that includes more rooftop and residential solar.
After about two decades of essentially flat electricity consumption across the U.S., demand is booming to power artificial intelligence, industry and to electrify oilfields, transportation and heating.
The association’s report found renewable growth in Texas is “uniquely driven by technology and data buyers in Texas” and that fuels the need to deploy affordable power quickly, Giese said.
“These new types of AI data centers can be built really quickly, unlike traditional large-use energy facilities,” he said. “That’s why we see that continued growth in resources that can come online quickly and are affordable. That’s what solar and storage is.”
Nicolas Fulghum, senior energy and data analyst at Ember, said he expects to see more months when solar exceeds coal generation, before overtaking it on an annual basis in a few years.
Such milestones signify that solar “has staying power” at a time there’s less support for renewable energy at the federal level, he said.
Wind and solar combined have overtaken coal in the past, and wind power alone has outpaced coal during spring months when wind speeds pick up. Ember gets its hourly and monthly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Solar also became the third-largest source of electricity in the U.S. in May, behind natural gas and nuclear. Coal generation hit an all-time monthly low in April and rebounded only modestly in May.
Trump has blamed renewable energy sources such as wind and solar for skyrocketing energy costs. But energy analysts say recent price hikes are based on growing demand, aging infrastructure and increasingly extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change. Most recently, the war in Iran that Trump launched has also led to a spike in energy costs.
Last week, he announced a plan to boost the struggling U.S. coal industry by spending nearly $700 million to support coal-fired power plants and coal exports. At a White House event, he said “coal’s a great business” and that “in terms of power, there’s really nothing like it.”
Martin Pochtaruk, CEO and founder of Canadian-based solar panel manufacturer Heliene, said the Republican president can say coal is coming back, but investors will put their money in whatever brings the best return. For power generation, he said, that is solar.
A White House spokeswoman defended the Trump administration’s energy policies, saying they were geared toward strengthening the country’s security.
“The President has reversed the Left’s devastating policies, saved the American coal industry, prevented the retirement of more than 17 gigawatts of power, and saved lives during heightened demand periods,” Taylor Rogers said in a statement.
The Trump administration has canceled solar and wind projects, implemented policies that slowed clean energy permitting and development and terminated $7 billion in funding intended for affordable solar energy projects across the U.S. In Texas, lawmakers have passed legislation supporting natural gas generation over solar and wind projects and considered measures that make battery storage more difficult.
“As power demand skyrockets, political and regulatory attacks are slowing down the exact resources we rely on,” Darren Van’t Hof, interim president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said in a statement. “Impeding the only sector that is actively building new power is a reckless gamble that will only drive electricity bills higher.”
© 2026 the San Antonio Express-News. Visit www.mysanantonio.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Search
RECENT PRESS RELEASES
Related Post
