14 gigawatts of new power generation capacity came online in the fourth quarter of 2023 — a doubling of the new capacity from quarter three. Over eight gigawatts of this fourth quarter surge was large-scale solar, with distributed solar contributing another two gigawatts. Wind power development also swelled to more than three gigawatts this quarter. Fossil gas had its poorest quarterly showing of the year with less than a gigawatt of buildout.
In the chart below, we illustrate the past two years of new electric power capacity in the U.S., disaggregated by energy source on a quarterly basis.
Key takeaways:
- 73 percent of all generation capacity installed in the fourth quarter of 2023 was solar; 58 percent from utility-scale solar farms and 15 percent from small solar installations (residential, commercial, and community solar).
- Small-scale solar buildout stepped up slightly in the fourth quarter of 2023 — thanks to Californians rushing to take advantage of NEM 2.0.
- All of the wind generation capacity installed in 2023 was onshore, but expect to see some offshore wind in the first quarter of 2024, as South Fork Wind began delivering power to New York.
- Gas contributed only six percent of power generation buildout in the fourth quarter of 2023.
- Nearly two gigawatts of utility-scale storage came online in the fourth quarter of 2023.
For more on the advancement of clean, distributed energy, see these recent ILSR resources:
- The 2024 Community Power Scorecard
- Arizona’s High Stakes Utility Election — Episode 205 of Local Energy Rules
- Smarter Rules for Smart Meters — Episode 204 of Local Energy Rules
- Why Utility Execs Hate Distributed Solar
- The Concrete Benefits of Virtual Power Plants — Episode 203 of Local Energy Rules
- 10 Years of Minnesota’s Community Solar Program — Episode 202 of Local Energy Rules
- Scaling Up Home Energy Investment — Episode 199 of Local Energy Rules
For timely updates from the Energy Democracy Initiative, follow John Farrell on Twitter, subscribe to the Energy Democracy weekly update, and check out the Local Energy Rules podcast.
Featured Photo Credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture via Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)
