Despite unfavorable federal policies, the U.S. energy storage additions jumped by 31% from a year earlier to 9.7 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in the first quarter of 2026, the strongest first quarter in history, a new report showed on Thursday.
With energy storage gaining momentum, U.S. developers are set to install more than 610 GWh of energy storage by 2030, according to the report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
The estimates through 2030 were revised up from earlier forecasts as investors, developers, and grid operators respond to the current energy price volatility tied to disrupted global gas and gas turbine supplies.
Solar and storage are becoming increasingly attractive because they are insulated from fuel price swings and increasingly made in America, SEIA and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence said in the report.
Texas, Arizona, and California led utility-scale battery storage capacity additions in the first quarter, maintaining their positions as the three largest energy storage markets in America. Notably, 71% of all utility-scale energy storage capacity installed in Q1 was built in states won by President Donald Trump, the report said.
A total of 13 states now have explicit energy storage targets, helping drive continued investment and deployment. States like Georgia, Iowa, and Mississippi also posted notable gains in installed storage capacity during the quarter.
Despite the surge in energy storage installations, federal permitting bottlenecks could slow the industry, SEIA warned.
An SEIA analysis has shown that 467 solar and storage projects have permits pending and are vulnerable to politically motivated delays or cancellations.
“Energy storage is no longer just for backup, it’s critical energy security infrastructure,” said Shan Tomouk, BESS and Energy Lead at Benchmark Minerals.
“A supportive policy landscape for BESS will be crucial to enabling the rollout of AI and data centers, while mitigating adverse cost impacts to regular consumers.”
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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