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EIA: batteries accompany over 16% of new 2026 utility-scale solar capacity

Operator reports show a rising share of solar additions paired with storage. The 19% full-year figure and shares above 30% for 2027-2028 are plans, not completed installations.

By Greener Numbers Editorial Team · Published October 30, 2026 · Updated 10/30/2026

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on October 30 that more than 16% of utility-scale solar capacity added in 2026 through September was co-located with operable battery storage. The agency compares that share with 2% in 2017, using information reported by plant operators.

Projects scheduled for the final three months of the year could raise the full-year share of new solar capacity paired with storage to 19%. Plans submitted for 2027 and 2028 put that share above 30%. These are reported development plans, not confirmation that those future projects are already operating.

Co-location gives a plant a choice between sending solar electricity directly to the grid and storing it for later. EIA says wholesale prices in regions with substantial solar generation tend to fall when solar output is high and rise as that output declines. Batteries let operators change when the combined plant supplies electricity.

The figures describe the share of capacity, not the share of all electricity consumed or a household’s battery ownership. EIA separately says solar photovoltaic equipment represented 13% of total U.S. utility-scale generating capacity as of September, and 18% of that solar capacity was co-located with batteries.

EIA identifies California, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada as having shares of solar co-location more than twice the national average. The agency uses its annual EIA-860 and monthly EIA-860M generator collections to track these installations, including solar and battery units that enter service at different times.

For electricity customers, the immediate relevance is a growing ability to shift utility-scale solar output into different wholesale-price periods. The report does not calculate a particular household bill reduction, show that batteries remove every grid constraint, or make a planned installation equivalent to an operating one.