No coal: Solar, wind, gas dominate new US generating capacity in 2016

(credit: EIA)

Today, the US Energy Information Administration released data on planned additions to the US power grid this year. The year is notable because it will see the first new nuclear plant brought online in 20 years, contributing 1.1 GigaWatts to the grid. But that contribution will be dwarfed by renewable power sources, which together will account for nearly two-thirds of 2016's new capacity. And these numbers only count utility-scale solar, ignoring commercial and residential installations.

Part of the boom in renewables came because the tax incentives for their installation were in danger of expiring, so utilities rushed to get projects through the pipeline ahead of the end of the year. (The incentives have since been extended in the most recent budget deal.) This led to a phenomenal boom in solar, with 9.5GW of capacity expected to come online-more than the past three years combined.

Last year saw 8.4GW of distributed solar installed in the US (compared to 3.1GW of utility scale); given the continued slide in solar panel prices, that figure is likely to grow as well. Thus, the actual solar capacity installed next year may be double the EIA's estimates. California will see the most installations, with 3.9GW of capacity, followed by North Carolina (1.1GW), Nevada (0.9GW), Texas (0.7GW), and Georgia (0.7GW).

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