| Resource Type | Report |
| Author / Source | Kevin Tillmann (American Public Power Association) |
| Publication Date | May 2026 |
| Location | United States |
| Initiative Type | Technology |
| Project Complexity | Beginner |
| Recommended For | Board, Staff |
Estimated reading time: 15 minutes
Why This Matters for Rural Electric Co-ops
This annual report is a national snapshot of what the United States currently has for generation capacity (nearly 1.4 terawatts) and what is coming (494,823 MW in development), broken out by fuel, region, ownership type, and RTO. For a co-op, it shows the supply mix taking shape in the regions its power comes from, and how fast coal is leaving the fleet.
Two notes on the source. The American Public Power Association is the national trade association for community-owned, not for profit municipal utilities, so it is a public power voice rather than a cooperative one, but the data is national and covers all ownership types, including cooperatives, investor-owned utilities, federal agencies, and non-utility generators. It is not a municipal-only dataset. The tables are regional and ownership-level aggregates, so they are useful background for a conversation with a G&T rather than a way to verify any particular utility's plans.
Key Takeaways
| › | Natural gas holds just under 42% of the current 1.4 TW fleet and coal holds 14%, while solar, wind, nuclear, and hydro together account for nearly 40%. |
| › | Nearly 52,000 MW of coal, about 27% of today's coal capacity, is scheduled to retire by 2030, reshaping the regional supply mix co-ops draw from. |
| › | Solar is 54% of all capacity under development, natural gas in the pipeline grew 62% from 2024 to 2025, and total installed energy storage grew 63% in a single year. |
| › | Cooperatives own between 0.2% and 3% of pipeline capacity depending on development stage, and roughly 1.2% across all stages combined, so direct co-op ownership of new capacity remains rare. |
Implementation Considerations
- Regulatory or Governance Considerations: Pipeline figures are not commitments. Roughly 75,861 MW of planned projects were canceled in 2025, about double the 2024 total, and 63% of that was wind. Proposed capacity is the earliest and least reliable stage, so it should carry the least weight in board discussion.
- Staffing or Technology Requirements: No implementation cost. This is a free 19-page reference that is mostly tables. Whoever reads it needs to hold two limits in mind: the report measures capacity, meaning maximum potential output, not energy actually delivered, and it counts utility-scale projects only, excluding distributed and small-scale generation. Locating the co-op's own NERC region and RTO before drawing local conclusions matters as well. Smaller co-ops may want their G&T or statewide association to translate the regional tables into what it means for their power supply.
- Time-Sensitive Information: This is an annual update built on data accessed in January and February 2026 and will be superseded by the next edition. The report also notes that nonprofit utilities were ineligible for wind and solar tax credits before 2022, which shaped ownership patterns. Federal tax credit and funding rules have continued to change since, so current eligibility should be verified rather than inferred from that history.
Notable Examples
- American Public Power Association: Publisher and author, representing community-owned utilities in roughly 2,000 towns and cities nationwide.
- Hitachi Energy Velocity Suite: Commercial database behind every figure in the report, accessed January and February 2026.
- Texas RE: Holds the largest regional share of permitted capacity (30%) and of capacity pending application (48%).
Estimated reading time: 15 minutes
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