U.S. Energy Storage Capacity Hits Record 20

The United States energy storage industry installed a record 20.2 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of new capacity in the second quarter of 2026. This data comes from the U.S. Energy Storage Market Outlook Q3 2026 report released by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

Total installations for the first half of the year reached 30.8 GWh. The record-breaking quarter means more than 10% of all energy storage capacity currently installed in the country came online in just those three months.

Record Growth and Revised Forecasts

Demand is outpacing expectations. The report's forecast through 2030 has been revised upward by 11.5% to 683 GWh. Utility-scale energy storage capacity has nearly doubled from 88 GWh to 165 GWh in the first 18 months of the Trump administration.

Grid operators, utilities, and energy buyers are turning to storage to strengthen reliability and meet rising electricity demand. Tim Pawlenty, president and CEO of SEIA, stated, "This record growth highlights that storage is a powerful reliability tool that strengthens our energy security, meets rising demand and puts downward pressure on electricity bills."

Geographic Shift in Deployment

A significant geographic shift is underway. More than 74% of the Q2 capacity was built in states won by President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. Arizona led the nation with 6.2 GWh of new installations, the strongest quarter for any single state on record.

Texas and California followed with 3.8 GWh and 3.6 GWh, respectively. "Energy storage is no longer just a California and Texas story anymore," said Shan Tomouk, BESS & Energy Lead at Benchmark Minerals. He noted strong pipeline growth in Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Colorado, and several other states.

Arizona, with the nation's fourth-largest solar market, is increasingly pairing solar resources with storage. The goal is to capture more homegrown power and manage costs.

Storage Performance and Manufacturing

Battery energy storage supplied more electricity to the grid in the first eight months of 2026 than in all of 2025. During extreme heat events in Texas and California, storage helped provide power during peak demand, supporting grid reliability and mitigating price spikes for consumers.

Domestic manufacturing also set records. Two new battery cell manufacturing facilities opened in Ohio and Tennessee, and a new 50 GWh battery module facility launched in Texas. These openings bring U.S. battery cell and module manufacturing capacity to record highs.

Installation Breakdown by Segment

The vast majority of new capacity was deployed at the utility scale. The quarterly installations were segmented as follows:

Utility-scale projects dominated, accounting for a large majority of the quarter's new capacity. The report highlights storage's critical role in a transforming energy grid. It finished on the concrete detail of new manufacturing facilities in Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas ensuring more grid-strengthening batteries are made domestically.