Many of today’s most pressing energy trends are converging in Texas. Data center growth and electrification are driving up electricity demand; the state’s grid is moving increasingly toward renewables; and at the same time, Texas electricity prices have continued to drop.
According to the 2025 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook, a report out today from BloombergNEF and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, Texas was the largest market for new utility-scale solar last year, adding nearly 10 gigawatts of new capacity in 2024, plus another 10 GW on rooftops.
That growth came as the United States experienced an overall increase in power generation, which offset declines in energy consumption elsewhere in the economy. Last year, the U.S. produced 4,393 terawatt-hours of power, the largest amount since 2012.
In Texas in particular — where power demand has climbed 17% since 2021, jumping to 86 GW last year — that growth has come from the electrification of oil and gas operations in the Permian Basin, in addition to data center growth and electrification.
To meet that demand, the state has deployed record-breaking amounts of renewable energy projects. Of the 317 GW of projects that have applied to connect to grids operated by ISOs in 2024, the majority are in Texas, BNEF found.
The geography of those locations is important for framing the role of renewables in the present policy moment, said Anthony Fratto, who leads research analysis at the American Clean Power Association.
Part of that growth is from energy storage projects, which also had a breakout year in 2024, according to the report. Nationwide, energy storage capacity grew by more than 30% in 2024 to 55 gigawatts. And the bulk of energy storage deployments (84%) are located in California, Texas, and the Southwest.
“The renewable and storage growth is actually in MISO, SPP, ERCOT, and what’s interesting is those are all regions that have states that don’t have deep decarbonization targets, they don’t have clean energy mandates,” Fratto explained. “And what that highlights is that clean energy is ready to go. It is economic, it is being built now to meet the growing load.”
Fratto pointed to lower wholesale power prices in Texas, which dropped by more than 50%, while nationwide prices remained stable. That’s thanks to the state’s high renewables penetration, he added, which reduces reliance on inefficient peaker plants during winter events.
California also experienced a significant drop in wholesale power prices last year — but an increase in retail prices. Texas meanwhile, also saw declining retail prices.
That’s in part because unlike California, Texas was largely able to integrate new renewables capacity into existing infrastructure last year. Forthcoming buildouts and upgrades, however, may impact those prices in future years.
Beyond ERCOT
2024 was a record-breaking year for renewables and storage outside of Texas too.
Total renewable generation in the U.S. increased by more than 10%, with utility-scale solar facilities experiencing their largest year-on-year growth in terms of generation since 2017.
Meanwhile, pumped hydropower has long dominated the energy storage sector, but in 2024 the balance shifted. Last year, storage growth was almost entirely powered by non-hydro sources, which grew 55% to 31.6 GW. And in another first, cumulative battery capacity in the U.S. provided more instantaneous power to the grid than any other source of storage, the report found. (Pumped hydropower remains the largest source of storage in terms of total volume of energy that can be stored, however, because it has a longer duration.)
Corporate power purchase agreement volumes also set a new record in 2024, reaching 28 GW of announced offtakes in the U.S. A total of 183 deals were signed last year, or nearly double the number signed in 2023. Of those deals, solar continues to dominate, making up 80% of all transactions last year.
And deals for more nascent, clean firm technologies are also ticking up. Corporations signed deals for 1.3 GW of nuclear and 0.3 GW of geothermal last year, making up 5.7% of total deal volume.
