Solar and Storage in the Age of Surging Power Demand

When I wrote in Utility Dive last September about data centers and power demand, solar was facing a period of real uncertainty.

Federal tax incentives were on the way out, local opposition was growing, developers were facing more difficult land-use fights, and in many markets, solar had become politically harder to build.

But the core point of that article was not that solar had an easy path forward. It was that solar remained one of the few power sources that could be deployed quickly enough to respond to the scale and urgency of new electricity demand.

That point has only become more important in 2026.

Across the country, the power market is being reshaped by a simple reality: demand is rising faster than the traditional system can accommodate.

Artificial intelligence and data center growth are placing huge demands on the grid. For large power users, electricity has become a constraint on growth.

Right now, despite many predictions about solar energy’s demise, it remains a major—in fact, growing—part of the solution.

What the Data Reveal

The latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows how quickly the market is moving. Developers and power plant operators plan to add 86 gigawatts of new utility-scale electric generating capacity in 2026. If realized, that would be a record. Solar accounts for 51% of those planned additions. Battery storage accounts for another 28%.

That follows 2025, when the U.S. added 53 gigawatts of new capacity, the largest single-year total since 2002.

The solar numbers are especially notable. Developers plan to add 43.4 gigawatts of new utility-scale solar capacity in 2026, a 60% increase from 2025. Battery storage is growing quickly as well, with 24 gigawatts planned for 2026 after a record 15 gigawatts were added in 2025.

Not every planned project will be built. Interconnection delays, permitting issues, financing conditions, supply-chain constraints, and local opposition remain obstacles.

But the direction is clear. The market is moving toward solar and storage at a greater scale because demand is forcing the issue.

Behind-the-Meter Solutions

Large technology companies need power at a scale and speed that traditional utility planning processes were not built to accommodate. Many also have clean-energy commitments. That combination helps explain the growing interest in co-located and behind-the-meter generation.

Behind-the-meter power generally means generation or storage located on the customer side of the utility meter. In the data center context, it may include solar, batteries, backup generation, fuel cells, or a microgrid that combines multiple resources.

The goal is not necessarily to leave the grid entirely. In most cases, it’s to reduce peak demand, improve resilience, manage costs, and gain more control over access to power.

For data center developers, that means energy strategy is inextricably tied to site selection, land-use planning, interconnection, and permitting. A site with fiber access but no realistic power strategy may not be viable, whereas a site that can support co-located solar, storage, or other generation may have a meaningful advantage.

Looking Ahead

In 2025, solar faced real uncertainty. That uncertainty has not disappeared. What has changed is the demand environment.

In 2026, the growth in electricity demand has made speed to power one of the defining issues in energy development.

Solar and storage will not solve every problem. We still need transmission, gas, nuclear, wind, grid upgrades, and other resources. But because solar and storage can often be deployed faster than many alternatives, they are likely to remain central to the near-term response.