US Clean Energy Surges with USD 10 Billion Q1 Boost

The United States continues its robust clean energy growth as it achieved its second-strongest Q1 figures of capacity addition till date. The American Clean Power Association (ACPA) highlights in its Clean Power Quarterly Market Report Q1 2025 that the recent quarterly growth of the US clean energy sector is worth USD 10 billion investment.

Adding about 7.4 GW of new clean energy capacity in the quarter, the overall clean energy capacity in the US now exceeds 320 GW, that is equivalent to powering up about 80 million homes, ACPA notes. 

Energy Storage and Pipeline Providing Momentum

The record-breaking battery storage deployment is reported to be at the center of this growth, in addition to an impressive development pipeline worth USD 328 billion. 

In the first quarter, 115 new project phases highlighted strong private sector confidence in the US energy production. Over 1,600 MW storage capacity is added in the quarter setting a record and  marking a 65 percent year-over-year surge

The overall cumulative Battery storage capacity exceeded 30 GW. The development pipeline, on the other hand, expanded by 12 percent to 184 GW, reflecting steady growth in jobs and investment nationwide. The storage and wind pipelines also grew  by 57 percent and 24 percent, respectively. 

Breaking the Numbers Down

Of the overall capacity growth of the nation, 4,459 MW came from utility-scale solar, 1,602 MW from storage, and 1,327 MW attributed to land-based wind. 

One notable fact is that eight of the top ten states for Q1 clean power additions voted Republican in the 2024 presidential election, the current ruling government. 

Statewise, Texas leads the nation in clean power addition with its cumulative capacity now surpassing 80 GW. This is an increment of about 20 percent from Q1 2024. Notably, Texas also ranks first in utility-scale solar and land-based wind capacities. While the utility-scale solar capacity is about 28 GW now, the land-based wind power contributes about 43 GW to the state’s clean energy spectrum. 

Indiana has been an exceptional state as well. It quadrupled its energy storage capacity in just one quarter. The state added 435 MW of new solar capacity in the quarter.

However, the investment trends have been concerning since past half a year, and raise doubts about the resilience of current growth trajectory. The clean energy investment in the country including from both government and private sources dropped 3.8 percent in the first quarter of 2025 to USD 67.3 billion, a second quarterly decline, according to new figures released by the Clean Investment Monitor.

This may be due to several factors including high inflation, high interest rates, global supply chain issues, and uncertainty in the policy environment created by the new administration.