Dive Brief:

• Developers have installed 2,525 MW of solar this year, up from 1,250 MW in the same period last year, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
• Wind additions have plummeted to 1,025 MW from 6,245 MW in the first ten months last year.
• Natural gas-fired power plant additions increased somewhat to 6,625 MW from 6,245 MW last year.
• Total capacity additions fell to 12,325 MW so far this year, down from 17,000 MW a year ago.

Dive Insight:

Combined solar and wind additions fell to 29% this year from 44% in the first ten months last year as a percent of overall new capacity. This mainly reflects a surge of wind generation that was added last year just before the federal production tax credit expired.

Solar capacity has doubled to 6.8 GW from a year ago, but it only makes up 0.6% of installed capacity in the U.S. In contrast, wind accounts for 5.2% of the installed capacity at 60.3 GW. But even with the growth in renewable generation, natural gas remains king. It has accounted for 54% of new capacity so far this year, up from 37% last year.

Coal isn't dead yet, but it's shrinking. About 1,545 MW of coal generation has come online so far this year, down from 2,360 MW added in the same period last year. Even so, coal capacity fell to 333.7 GW, down from 337.6 GW a year ago. Coal accounts for 28.8% of the US power fleet, down from 29.3% last year.