U.S. Power Industry Outlook 2026

Roiled by executive orders, agency rulemakings, and other initiatives, the U.S. power generation landscape has shifted dramatically this year from renewables to dispatchable generation. What’s more, vast and ever-rising estimates of electric demand growth created by data centers, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing are adding to the turbulence.

President Donald Trump spent a good bit of the first year of his second term fulfilling his campaign promises to pursue an “energy dominance” agenda. For electricity, dispatchable generation, including gas, nuclear, and coal, was in, and renewable energy, such as solar and wind, was out. Particularly favored were efforts to boost the extraction and use of fossil fuels while limiting federal support for renewable electric generation.