What came online and what retired, 2016–2025
From 2016 through 2025, 367.7 GW of generating capacity that is still operating came online in the US, and 117.4 GW was retired, according to the 2025 EIA-860 data. Additions rose to their highest level in 2025, at 57.7 GW. Coal accounts for 61% of everything retired over the decade.
NuclearCoalNatural gasOil and petroleumHydroelectricPumped-storage hydroWindSolarBattery storageGeothermalBiomass and wasteOther sources
Year by year
| Year | Added | Largest addition | Retired | Largest retirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 28.3 GW | Natural gas | 17.2 GW | Coal |
| 2017 | 23.3 GW | Natural gas | 7,594 MW | Coal |
| 2018 | 34.4 GW | Natural gas | 19.8 GW | Coal |
| 2019 | 23.7 GW | Natural gas | 13.7 GW | Coal |
| 2020 | 33.6 GW | Wind | 12.2 GW | Coal |
| 2021 | 38.3 GW | Wind | 7,915 MW | Coal |
| 2022 | 32.4 GW | Solar | 11.8 GW | Coal |
| 2023 | 44.9 GW | Solar | 13.1 GW | Coal |
| 2024 | 51.1 GW | Solar | 8,276 MW | Coal |
| 2025 | 57.7 GW | Solar | 5,709 MW | Coal |
The shift in what gets built
In 2016 through 2019, natural gas was the largest addition each year, peaking at 21.7 GW in 2018. Wind took the lead in 2020 and 2021. Since 2022 solar has led, reaching 61% of all additions in 2024 and 51% in 2025. Battery storage, under a gigawatt a year until 2020, added 16.4 GW in 2025 alone, more than any other year on record in the data.
Over the whole decade, natural gas additions of 89.7 GW still exceed gas retirements of 33.4 GW, so the gas fleet grew by about 56.3 GW net. Coal went the other way: 27 MW of coal capacity still operating came online in the decade, against 71.4 GW retired.
Retirements peaked in 2018
The largest retirement year in the period was 2018, with 19.8 GW retired. Coal was the largest single fuel retired in every year from 2016 to 2025. Retired units stay in the EIA-860 files with their retirement year, which is why plant pages can draw them as grey bars: Paradise has the most retired capacity of any plant with its own page here.
Reading these numbers carefully
Two limits apply. First, the additions columns count only units still operable at the end of 2025; a unit built in 2017 and retired in 2023 is in the retirement total but not the addition total. Second, these are nameplate megawatts. A gigawatt of solar and a gigawatt of gas do not produce the same energy, so the table describes how the equipment base changes, not how electricity supply changes.
Planned changes are another matter. Operators also report proposed units and planned retirement dates, and plant pages show them as reported. They are plans, and many will move. For the age profile of what remains, see how old are US power plants.
Where the new capacity went
Additions are far from even across the country. The ten states with the most new capacity since 2016 account for 61% of the national total, and Texas alone added 81.2 GW. The leading fuel of each state’s additions shows how differently the build-out played out: some states added mostly gas, others mostly solar or wind.
| State | Added 2016–2025 | Largest fuel | Its share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 81.2 GW | Solar | 37% |
| California | 38.0 GW | Solar | 48% |
| Florida | 25.5 GW | Solar | 48% |
| Pennsylvania | 12.9 GW | Natural gas | 89% |
| Arizona | 12.7 GW | Solar | 42% |
| Ohio | 12.5 GW | Natural gas | 58% |
| Illinois | 12.0 GW | Wind | 38% |
| Oklahoma | 10.8 GW | Wind | 80% |
| Virginia | 9,720 MW | Solar | 53% |
| Indiana | 9,133 MW | Solar | 49% |
The largest single additions
At the plant level, the biggest additions of the decade were large enough to reshape their state’s fleet on their own. The list below counts every unit a plant added from 2016 on, so it includes both new plants and new units at existing sites.
| Plant | State | Main fuel | Added 2016–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vogtle | Georgia | Nuclear | 2,228 MW |
| Guernsey Power Station | Ohio | Natural gas | 2,055 MW |
| Crystal River | Florida | Natural gas | 1,971 MW |
| Paradise | Kentucky | Natural gas | 1,854 MW |
| Greensville County Power Station | Virginia | Natural gas | 1,773 MW |
| Okeechobee Clean Energy Center | Florida | Natural gas | 1,723 MW |
| Lackawanna Energy Center | Pennsylvania | Natural gas | 1,498 MW |
| Brunswick County Power Station | Virginia | Natural gas | 1,472 MW |
2025 on its own
The most recent year shows the current pattern most clearly. Of the 57.7 GW that came online in 2025, solar accounted for 29.6 GW, battery storage accounted for 16.4 GW and wind accounted for 6,272 MW; the remaining 5,437 MW came from other fuels. Retirements in 2025 were 5,709 MW, the lowest of the ten years.
What retired, fuel by fuel
Seen over the whole decade, retirements are concentrated in a few fuels. Coal leads with 71.4 GW, natural gas follows with 33.4 GW, and oil-fired units add 7,435 MW. Nuclear retirements total 1,052 MW. The last column sets each fuel’s retirements against the capacity of that fuel that came online over the same ten years and is still operating.
| Fuel | Retired 2016–2025 | Share of retirements | Added 2016–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coal | 71.4 GW | 60.8% | 27 MW |
| Natural gas | 33.4 GW | 28.4% | 89.7 GW |
| Oil and petroleum | 7,435 MW | 6.3% | 645 MW |
| Biomass and waste | 1,419 MW | 1.2% | 751 MW |
| Nuclear | 1,052 MW | 0.9% | 3,498 MW |
| Wind | 924 MW | 0.8% | 87.3 GW |
| Hydroelectric | 707 MW | 0.6% | 1,023 MW |
| Battery storage | 399 MW | 0.3% | 43.4 GW |
| Geothermal | 319 MW | 0.3% | 600 MW |
| Other sources | 180 MW | 0.2% | 273 MW |
| Solar | 177 MW | 0.2% | 140.5 GW |
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-860 (Annual Electric Generator Report), 2025 final data (Sep 2026). Downloaded 2026-10-28. Figures are computed by GridPlants from the plant, generator and ownership files; see how to read the data.