Synapse Electricity Snapshot 2026

The Synapse Electricity Snapshot 2026  highlights several major trends in 2025 U.S. electric-sector capacity, generation, CO2 emissions, and related statistics. Our key findings include the following:

• Renewable capacity (inclusive of wind, solar, and battery storage resources) continues to climb. The United States added 49 GW of renewables in 2025, with over 70 GW slated to come online in 2026. 
• Non-CO2-emitting resources (renewables, nuclear, and hydro) make up 41 percent of the nationwide capacity and account for 41 percent of all generation.
• In both 2024 to 2025, annual sales increased by more than 2 percent, driven by greater commercial sales (linked to increased deployment of large loads such as data centers) and greater residential sales.
• Electric-sector CO2 emissions remained flat at about 1,500 million metric tons. Since reaching an all-time peak in 2007, electric sector CO2 emissions have declined to one of the lowest observed levels since the 1970s. 
• Since 1990, CO2 emitted per dollar of GDP has decreased by 65 percent, from 0.13 to 0.04 kg per dollar.

For more insight into the latest electric-sector data, read the Synapse Electricity Snapshot 2026.