Normally, we try to update you quarterly on what’s going on with the US electric grid since it provides a nice view of developing trends and smooths out some month-to-month randomness.
Despite all of this, electricity use has risen by only 2 percent compared to the same period last year.
Through September 2025, solar generated 48 terawatt-hours more than it had the year before.
Combined with utility-scale generation, solar produced 72 percent as much electricity as coal over the first seven months of 2026, aided in part by coal declining by a bit over 10 percent from the same period the year before.
Through the first seven months of 2026, the growth from these two sources alone was 55 Tw-hr, while demand on the grid rose by 51 TWh.
5 sentences from our version of the report,
chosen to cover it. Nothing here is written; every line is in the article below.
How
Summarized version
The other big story in recent years has been the explosive growth of solar power. Through September 2025, solar generated 48 terawatt-hours more than it had the year before.
The report’s most important sentence, shortened and in plain words. How
Headline check
Headline as published: Is solar's growth finally slowing in the US?
There is nothing in this headline a machine can check against the report: no figure, no name and no quotation.
Normally, we try to update you quarterly on what’s going on with the US electric grid since it provides a nice view of developing trends and smooths out some month-to-month randomness.
The top line item is that energy use is continuing to rise, albeit not as quickly as headlines about data centers might lead people to believe. Despite all of this, electricity use has risen by only 2 percent compared to the same period last year. At this time the previous year, demand had risen by 3 percent compared to the year earlier.
The other big story in recent years has been the explosive growth of solar power.
Through September 2025, solar generated 48 terawatt-hours more than it had the year before. For the same period in 2026, that number was 39 TWh.
Small-scale solar, such as rooftop installations, has been growing at a slower rate, but still managed to increase by over 12 percent year over year. Combined with utility-scale generation, solar produced 72 percent as much electricity as coal over the first seven months of 2026, aided in part by coal declining by a bit over 10 percent from the same period the year before.
Beyond solar and coal, all the changes in electricity sources were less than 10 percent year over year.
Through the first seven months of 2026, the growth from these two sources alone was 55 Tw-hr, while demand on the grid rose by 51 TWh.
For comparison, the EU generates about 30 percent of its electricity using wind and solar, and 65 percent is emissions-free.
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